The Midwest Literary Walk returns to downtown Chelsea on Saturday, April 22.
The event will kick off at 1 p.m. with a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tyehimba Jess at Main St Church at 320 N. Main Street.
Tyehimba Jess’s 2017 book “Olio” received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. He also received a literature fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2004, and his first book of poetry, “leadbelly,” was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. Library Journal and Black Issues Book Review both named it one of the “Best Poetry Books of 2005.” Jess was born in Detroit.
Kristin Hersh will follow at 2:30 p.m at Chelsea First Congregational Church at 121 E. Middle Street.
Writer and musician Kristin Hersh’s memoir, “Rat Girl,” details her experiences with her alt-rock band Throwing Muses and living with mental illness.
In 2021, she released a new memoir, “Seeing Sideways,” where she focuses on parenting and the challenges of the music industry. She’s also written a children’s book called “Toby Snax.”
The walk ends with New York Times bestselling author Jamie Ford at 4 p.m. at Chelsea First United Methodist Church at 128 Park St.
Jamie Ford is known for his debut novel, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” which was awarded best Adult Fiction book at the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature and spent a considerable amount of time on the New York Times bestsellers list. He has also written “Songs of Willow Frost” (2013) and “Love and Other Consolation Prizes” (2017), and his most recent novel, “The Many Daughters of Afong Moy” (2022).
After the event, guests can join other attendees in downtown Chelsea to share thoughts, get acquainted, have some food and hear live music at Ugly Dog Distillery at 218 S. Main St. from 5:30-7 p.m.
“No tickets or registration are required, you just drop in,” said Shannon Powers of Chelsea District Library. “Most attendees stay for all three author talks, but there are some who only attend one or two. Each talk ends 30 minutes before the next begins to give folks time to get to the next location.”
You can borrow a print, ebook or audiobook copy of works by Lit Walk authors from the Chelsea District Library using a valid library card. You can also pick up a copy at one of the sponsoring independent bookstores, Literati in Ann Arbor or Serendipity Books in downtown Chelsea.
