Upcoming Events:
Love Letters to Detroit Open Mic
February 3rd, 6:00 pm - February 3rd, 8:30 pm
Robert C. Valade ParkDetroit, MI Map
Calling all poets, writers, singers and performers! Share your love letter to Detroit at this free, all ages open mic.The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and InsideOut Literary Arts invite you to share what you love about Detroit at Love Letters to Detroit, a writing workshop and open mic on Friday, February 3.
Part of Winter at Valade's Motown Love weekend, this indoor/outdoor celebration invites you down to Valade Park along the Detroit River to celebrate what you love about Detroit. The event begins with a writing workshop at 6pm led by Kweku Ambibola. At 6:30, host La Shaun phoenix Moore will kick off the open mic with a series of featured performers, including Audra Kubat, Nandi Comer, and Brittany Rogers. Then we want to hear from you! Whether you just wrote something at the workshop or have a poem or song you've been dying to share, grab the mic and tell us what Detroit means to you.
Valade Park features oversized fire pits, onsite food and beverage options including hot drinks from the bar, and a variety of games and activities for all ages. Learn more at detroitriverfront.org/winteratvalade. Love Letters to Detroit will take place inside the Valade Shed, but dress for the weather and plan to explore the park! Programming at Valade continues every weekend in February!
Valade Park is located at 2670 Atwater. Free parking is available in the lot in the lot at the corner of Chene and Guoin and nearby lots.
Past Events:
InsideOut Visiting Writers Series: José Olivarez
January 14th, 3:00 pm - January 14th, 4:00 pm
The Scarab Club217 Farnsworth StDetroit, MI48202 Map
InsideOut Literary Arts hosts the Visiting Writer Series in person with award-winning poet José Olivarez.Join InsideOut on Saturday, January 14th at the Scarab Club for a poetry reading with Visiting Writer José Olivarez . InsideOut's Visiting Writer Series is an opportunity to hear work from nationally-renowned writers and Detroit's youth poets. This free event will include a performance by InsideOut's 2022 Youth Performance Troupe followed by a performance by our Visiting Writer.
José Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants. His debut book of poems, Citizen Illegal, was a finalist for the PEN/ Jean Stein Award and a winner of the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize. It was named a top book of 2018 by The Adroit Journal, NPR, and the New York Public Library. Along with Felicia Chavez and Willie Perdomo, he co-edited the poetry anthology, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT. He is the co-host of the poetry podcast, The Poetry Gods. In 2018, he was awarded the first annual Author and Artist in Justice Award from the Phillips Brooks House Association and named a Debut Poet of 2018 by Poets & Writers. In 2019, he was awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Paris Review, and elsewhere.
**Scarab Club has limited parking - first come first serve.**
Before the reading will be a free lunch and writing workshop for **teens only** (no registration required).
12:30 PM Free lunch for teens
1-2:30 PM Teens-only poetry workshop with José Olivarez
3 PM 2022 Youth Performance Troupe + featured performance (free and open to all)
This event is sponsored by Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (DDFIA).
InsideOut's Visiting Writer Series and award-winning Citywide Poets program are supported by the Skillman Foundation, the NBA Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and donors like you!
Detroit Youth Performance Troupe Chapbook Release!
December 10th, 1:00 pm - December 10th, 3:00 pm
Room Project6513 Woodward Ave.Detroit, MI48202 Map
Join InsideOut's 2022 Detroit Youth Performance Troupe as they celebrate the launch of their chapbook "Into The Deep End: A Recording of Currents" at Room Project.InsideOut's Youth Performance Troupe is sponsored by Toyota.
InsideOut Visiting Writers Series RELAUNCH: Dunya Mikhail
October 22nd, 2:00 pm
Museum of Contemporary Art DetroitDetroit, MI Map
InsideOut Literary Arts relaunches the Visiting Writer Series in person with award-winning poet Dunya Mikhail.Join InsideOut on Saturday, October 22nd at 2 PM for a poetry reading with Visiting Writer Dunya Mikhail. Hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), InsideOut's Visiting Writer Series is an opportunity to hear work from nationally-renowned writers and Detroit's youth poets. This free event will include a teen-only open mic followed by a performance by our Visiting Writer, Dunya Mikhail.
In an NPR interview, Mikhail said, “I feel that poetry is not medicine—it’s an X-ray. It helps you see the wound and understand it. We all feel alienated because of this continuous violence in the world. We feel alone, but we feel also together. So we resort to poetry as a possibility for survival."
Dunya Mikhail was born in Iraq in 1965 and came to the United States in 1996. Her books include The Bird Tattoo (2022); In Her Feminine Sign (2019); The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq (2018), which was longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Literature in Translation; The Iraqi Nights, Diary of A Wave Outside the Sea; and The War Works Hard. She also edited a pamphlet of Iraqi poetry titled 15 Iraqi Poets. Her honors include the Kresge Fellowship, Arab American Book Award, and the United Nations Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing. The War Works Hard was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize and named one of the New York Public Library’s Twenty-Five Books to Remember from 2005. She is the co-founder of Mesopotamian Forum for Art and Culture in Michigan. She currently works as an Arabic special lecturer at Oakland University in Michigan.
***CITYWIDE POETS PROGRAM KICK OFF AND REGISTRATION***
There will also be on-site registration for InsideOut's award-winning afterschool program Citywide Poets . Citywide Poets provides teens with weekly creative writing workshops, publication, and performance opportunities. In this rigorous and supportive literary community, teens learn their words are powerful and embrace creative expression as a tool for self-development and civic engagement.
We invite teens for a special teens-only lunch and poetry workshop with Dunya Mikhail beginning at noon . No registration required.
Teens can learn more about Citywide Poets and register for FREE weekly sessions here.
InsideOut's Visiting Writer Series and award-winning Citywide Poets program are supported by the Skillman Foundation, the NBA Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and donors like you!