Justin Brouckaert is the author of the hybrid chapbook SKIN (Corgi Snorkel Press, 2016). His writing has appeared in Passages North, The Rumpus, Catapult, DIAGRAM, Smokelong Quarterly, Prairie Schooner and Bat City Review, among many other publications. In the world of Love Stories, the seams of reality have been subtly loosened. Brouckaert evokes a universal yearning, a raw desire, a pang of nostalgia, an ache in your chest that comes when you find yourself cleaved from your lover, from your people, from the place you call home. Long Day Press.
Born and raised in Detroit, Alice Randall is a New York Times best-selling novelist, award-winning songwriter, educator, and food activist. Her latest, 'Black Bottom Saints,' is an enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit's legendary neighborhood, as well as its emcee/writer, Ziggy Johnson. It features narratives of more than 60 "saints" from the history of Black Bottom and the early Civil Rights Movement. We talk about her experimentation with form, through fiction, and the main inspirations for this Michigan Notable Book (2021). https://www.alicerandall.com/works
Peter Werbe is a long-time figure in alternative and commercial media in Detroit and a political activist.. He is a member of the editorial board of the Fifth Estate magazine. His professional career was as a DJ on Detroit's major rock stations, WABX, WWWW. WRIF, and WCSX. He hosted Nightcall, WRIF's phone-in talk show, which was the longest-running such program in U.S. radio history, 1970-2016.
He is the author of Summer On Fire: A Detroit Novel (Black & Red Books) https://www.peterwerbe.org
Ryan ("Tibbs") Wiese is the writer/director of a new short film titled PACK CO., and it stars Dan John Miller. These two local musicians have steadily immersed themselves deeper into the world of video production (Tibbs Inc), and this is their first longer-form feature, with a great cast and an off-kilter narrative universe where a protagonist is more than ready to start thinking outside of the proverbial box.
The film premieres on April 1st, here: http://www.packco.tv/
More on their other endeavors, here: http://www.tibbsinc.com/
Bestselling author Lisa Scottoline offers a sweeping and shattering epic of historical fiction fueled by shocking true events with 'Eternal.' It's the tale of a love triangle that unfolds in the heart of Rome during the creeping shadow of fascism in the late '30s. "What war destroys, only love can heal." Scottoline joined us on the podcast to talk about her new book. https://www.scottoline.com/
John Jeffire was born in Detroit. In 2005, his novel Motown Burning was named Grand Prize Winner in the Mount Arrowsmith Novel Competition and in 2007 it won a Gold Medal for Regional Fiction in the Independent Publishing Awards. His latest poetry collection, A Temple For Tomorrows, is available this Spring. Jeffire performs 3 poems, along with some Q&A.
