Writers to share their stories at Literary Walk

ST. CLAIR SHOPES — Selected writers will share their creations at the St. Clair Shores Literary Walk from noon to 3 p.m. on June 29.

The event is at Blossom Heath Park on Jefferson Avenue. It will feature musicians and fiction writers as well as local St. Clair Shores and Michigan poets. Guests also come from New York City.

M.L. Liebler, the founder of the event and a St. Clair Shores poet laureate, said he picks people who are accessible to an audience instead of writers who write heavy intellectual works.

“I try to pick people that you can come out and feel comfortable (with) and enjoy a segment or all of it and feel that you got something out of the event,” Liebler said.

Poets will read their works in three sets. In the noon set are jazz poet Barry Wallenstein, jazz guitarist Ron English, urban folk poet emeritus Wardell Montgomery Jr. and poet Joy Gaines-Friedler. In the 1 p.m. set are poet and novelist John Jeffire, fiction writer Dorene O’Brien and poet Robert Laidler. In the set at 2 p.m. are novelist Michael Zadoorian, Academy Award- and Grammy-winning musician Luis Resto, and Liebler and The Magic Poetry Band.

Liebler said they will plug in local authors between the sets. Local poets are Writer L. Bush, M. Jane Roberts, K. Michelle Moran (a staff writer for C & G Newspapers), Carol Ghesquiere, Andrew and Denise Sedman, Deborah Benedic, Dawn Levitt and Tinisha Burgone.

He also said it looks like a big list, but it’s more of a sampler than a whole reading of a book or collection of poems.

“They do a little segment, maybe 15 minutes, and then we sell books,” Liebler said. “And then we go to the next set, and everybody does, you know, 12 (to) 15 minutes of reading. Very brief but engaging and that’s the whole point of it.”

He added that it also moves along fast.

The event is sponsored by the St. Clair Shores Public Library, the St. Clair Shores Tax Increment Finance Authority, the Detroit Writers Guild (where Liebler is president), the St. Clair Shores Cultural Committee, Liebler and P & W.

Jeffire said he might be sharing some of his poems at the walk. This is his second year performing. He said the event is great.

“You get to share camaraderie with some of Detroit’s best writers and musicians,” Jeffire said. “If the weather is great, it makes for just an outstanding event.”

He added that eventgoers are usually those who love and appreciate literature.

“It’s always nice to have a group like that that comes on out and shares the great weather and listens to words and is exposed to the magic of language,” Jeffire said.

He said people can expect a very relaxed and surprising event.

“People often think of, ‘Oh, a poetry reading. I’m going to be bored out of my mind,’ and, ‘What could be more dreadful than that?’” Jeffire said. “But I think what they find is that the poets, particularly the ones that have been chosen, are people who really connect on a human and relatable level.”

Liebler said the event happens under the cover of the pavilion at Blossom Heath. Guests are allowed to bring chairs and food into the park.

He said in the last couple of years the event has been successful.

“I think a lot of residents come,” Lielber said. “They hear about it, they see the signs around and they come, and I think they really enjoy it. So we’ve had good support.”

This event is for everyone, not just residents. Lielber said he also tries to pick writers who are for all ages.

Jeffire is also a high school educator. He said the more educators immerse themselves in their craft and share it, the better they’re able to promote it to younger people. He said the event is an opportunity for him to “walk the walk.”

“If we believe in literature, get up, get out and take part. And I’m a strong believer in that,” Jeffire said.