Wednesday Night Sessions April 25, 2012

April is National Poetry Month! Join us for poetry by Samiya Bashir, Russell Brakefield.

Ann Arbor native Samiya Bashir’s most recent book of poems, Gospel, was a finalist for both the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and along with her first collection, Where the Apple Falls, the Lambda Literary Award. Previously an editor with Ms. Magazine and Black Issues Book Review, she co-edited Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art. A founding organizer of Fire & Ink, recognized as the most influential supporter and advocate for LGBT writers of African descent, Samiya holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as Poet Laureate, and an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she received two Hopwood Poetry Awards. She is also the recipient of the Aquarius Press Legacy Award, the Astraea Writers Award, and fellowships from Cave Canem, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, Soul Mountain Writers Colony, The Austin Project, and the National Association of Pen Women, among others. She teaches writing at the University of Michigan.

Russell Brakefield is a musician, editor, and educator. He received his MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan, where he now teachings creative writing and composition. His most recent work appears or is forthcoming in The Michigan Quarterly Review, The New York Quarterly, Poet Lore, and Drunken Boat. He is also a member of an ongoing folk music collective called winter/sessions.

Wednesday Night Sessions is a monthly reading series based in Farmington, Michigan, that features talented local authors and poets. The series is sponsored by four Michigan-based publishers: Absinthe: New European Writing, The Collagist, Dzanc Books and Midwestern Gothic.

Join us and discover some of the great writers and presses that are part of Michigan’s diverse and exciting publishing community.

Official Website: http://wednightsessions.com/