About this Event
Join InsideOut Literary Arts at the beautiful Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center on Wayne State University's campus on Saturday, March 15th at 7 PM for an evening of poetry performances and conversation.
This year’s InsideOut Main Stage Poetry Showcase will feature Detroit's own Brittany Rogers, InsideOut alumna and the author of the debut collection Good Dress, in conversation with fellow alumna Ajanaé Dawkins. These Best Friends and hosts of Poetry Foundation's V.S. Podcast will perform new and old work and chat on stage about what it means to dedicate themselves to their craft, develop as multi-genre artist, and to love one another. You'll also be treated to performance by the Detroit Youth Performance Troupe.
This reading is the culminating event of InsideOut's 2025 Detroit Youth Poetry Con. All proceeds benefit InsideOut creative writing programs for youth!
American Sign Language interpretation will be provided for this event. Please see door staff for accommodation.
Brittany Rogers is poet, visual artist, educator, and life-long Detroiter. She has work published or forthcoming in The Hopkins Review, Scalawag, The Poet Lore, Indiana Review, Four Way Review, Underbelly, Mississippi Review, Lambda Literary, and Oprah Daily. Brittany is a fellow of VONA, The Watering Hole, Poetry Incubator, and Pink Door Writing Retreat. Brittany is Editor-in-Chief of Muzzle Magazine and co-host of VS Podcast. She is the author of the poetry collection Good Dress (Tin House, 2024).
Ajanaé Dawkins is an interdisciplinary poet, performance artist, and theologzian. Through poetry, she archives her matrilineage to explore the politics of faith, grief, and intimacy between Black women. Through essays, she blends literary criticism, memoir, and theology as autotheory to explore the relationship between Black poetics and Black theologies. Her work is published or forthcoming in the Academy of American Poets, The Rumpus, Prairie Schooner, the Indiana Review and more. Her chapbook, BLOOD-FLEX, is the winner of the New Delta Review’s 2024 chapbook prize. Ajanaé is a co-host of the VS Podcast and Urban Art’s Space’s 2024 Community Artist-in-Residence.
The Detroit Youth Poetry Con is brought to you by InsideOut Literary Arts in partnership with Wayne State University English Department, with support from NBA Foundation and individual donors.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center, 4743 Cass Avenue, Detroit, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 65.87
