Category: Uncategorized
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Poetry Reading by Cate Marvin Inspires Students to Take Risks in Their Writing
On January 15th, the University of Detroit Mercy hosted its first Triptych Visiting Authors series reading of 2026 via Zoom. This reading featured Cate Marvin, poet and Professor of English at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, who also teaches poetry writing in the Stonecoast M.F.A. Program at the University of…
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If You Know Too Much of What You’re Going To Say, Then You’re Not Discovering Anything: A Virtual Poetry Reading with Joanna Fuhrman
On October 1, 2025, the University of Detroit Mercy hosted a virtual poetry reading featuring Joanna Fuhrman, poet and Assistant Teaching Professor in Creative Writing at Rutgers University. A graduate of the University of Washington’s MFA program, where she received both the Academy of American Poets Prize and the Joan Grayson Award, Fuhrman’s distinctive style…
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UDM’s New Black Box Theatre Hosts Its First Poetry Reading with Michigan Poet Laureate Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd
On Saturday, September 27th, the University of Detroit Mercy’s newly opened Black Box Theatre hosted its first poetry reading with Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd. A writer and academic, Dr. Boyd is Michigan’s third poet laureate and currently holds the position of Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University. She has authored a…
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The 36th Annual Bauder Lecture, featuring Pulitzer Prize Winner Percival Everett
On April 25, 2025, students in Professor Stephen Pasqualina’s Winter 2025 Black Modernisms course attended the 2025 Bauder Lecture featuring author Percival Everett. Just a week before the lecture, the class concluded with intensive readings and discussions of his latest novel, James. The following is a reflection on the lecture by one of the outstanding…
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Seeing Black Modernisms at the Detroit Institute of Arts
On March 29, 2025, Professor Stephen Pasqualina and the students in his Winter 2025 Black Modernisms course visited the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). The class came to the DIA with the intention of touring two adjacent sections of the museum: one labeled “African American,” the other labeled “Modern.” Students were to peruse these two…
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Painting with Words: Ekphrastic Poems by Detroit Mercy Student Writers
At this year’s Celebration of Scholarly Achievement and Community Engagement (CSACE), held on April 3rd 2025, University of Detroit Mercy students gathered for a reading of original ekphrastic poetry—poetry that describes, or otherwise responds to, visual art. This panel reading consisted of eight student writers—Jannath Aurfan, Maria Bitar, Emma Boucher, Alexander Comer, Asha George, Michelle…
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We Make Each Other More Possible: An Unforgettable Triptych Event with Poet Aracelis Girmay
There are times—usually unbelievably hectic or stressful times—when life invites you to breathe. Requires it of you. The recent Triptych event featuring poet and Stanford professor Aracelis Girmay was exactly this breath for me. This reading, held via Zoom as part of the University of Detroit Mercy’s Triptych visiting author series, was the third and…
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Layers of Narrative: Lambda Literary award-winning author K-Ming Chang visits the University of Detroit Mercy
As part of the University of Detroit Mercy’s Triptych virtual visiting author series, I had the privilege of attending K-Ming Chang’s reading—an electrifying journey through her surreal, poetic storytelling. Hosted by Dr. Stacy Gnall, Detroit Mercy’s poet-in-residence, the event immersed the audience in Chang’s world, where identity, family, and the uncanny intertwine in haunting and…
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Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet Brandon Som Visits Detroit Mercy as part of Triptych Visiting Author Series
On Thursday, January 16th, Pulitzer Prize winner Brandon Som spoke with UDM students via Zoom after reading from his book Tripas, a collection of poems largely dedicated to Som’s maternal grandmother. In Tripas, Som uses images of circuitry to describe the long hours his grandmother spent on the factory line. The cover of the book…
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What I Saw
Inspired by John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, students in Writing About Literature visited the DIA and wrote about one work of art they had never seen before–or taken the time to look at closely.
Between the Pages 