Events
Wednesday, May 14 at 7 p.m.
Poetry Reading by Norman Fischer, Chris Tysh and Nazifa Islam
Free admission
Norman Fischer is a prolific poet, essayist, and Zen Buddhist priest. His latest titles are Men in Suits (2023), There Was a Clattering As (2021), and Through a Window (2024). Chax Press brought out his Selected Poems 1980-2013 in 2022. And the essay collection, Experience: Thinking. Writing, Language, and Religion, appeared in the University of Alabama’s Poetics Series in 2015. He lives on the northern California coast with his wife Kathie, also a Zen Buddhist priest, and is the founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation.
Poet and playwright Chris Tysh is the author of twelve books, the latest of which is 26 Tears, co-authored by George Tysh and published by BlazeVOX in 2022. She holds fellowships from The National Endowment of the Arts and the Kresge Foundation. She teaches at Wayne State University.
Based in Novi, Michigan, poet Nazifa Islam is the author of Forlorn Light: Virginia Woolf Found Poems (Shearsman Books, 2021) and Searching for a Pulse (Whitepoint Press, 2013). Her work has appeared in The Missouri Review, Smartish Pace, The Believer, The Southern Review, and Beloit Poetry Journal among other publications and has been selected for inclusion in The Best American Poetry anthology series. She earned her MFA at Oregon State University.
Free admission
Norman Fischer is a prolific poet, essayist, and Zen Buddhist priest. His latest titles are Men in Suits (2023), There Was a Clattering As (2021), and Through a Window (2024). Chax Press brought out his Selected Poems 1980-2013 in 2022. And the essay collection, Experience: Thinking. Writing, Language, and Religion, appeared in the University of Alabama’s Poetics Series in 2015. He lives on the northern California coast with his wife Kathie, also a Zen Buddhist priest, and is the founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation.
Poet and playwright Chris Tysh is the author of twelve books, the latest of which is 26 Tears, co-authored by George Tysh and published by BlazeVOX in 2022. She holds fellowships from The National Endowment of the Arts and the Kresge Foundation. She teaches at Wayne State University.
Based in Novi, Michigan, poet Nazifa Islam is the author of Forlorn Light: Virginia Woolf Found Poems (Shearsman Books, 2021) and Searching for a Pulse (Whitepoint Press, 2013). Her work has appeared in The Missouri Review, Smartish Pace, The Believer, The Southern Review, and Beloit Poetry Journal among other publications and has been selected for inclusion in The Best American Poetry anthology series. She earned her MFA at Oregon State University.
Thursday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Murderous Again
The Dynamic Spoken Word of Lydia Lunch
with Tim Dahl and Matt Nelson
$18 in advance | $20 at entry
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
New York icon Lydia Lunch burst on to the scene as the teenage guitarist/singer of early No Wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, which she founded with James Chance at the end of the 1970s. After receiving high visibility from Teenage Jesus’ inclusion on the Brian Eno produced compilation, No New York, Lunch became a solo artist in 1980. She founded her own label and publishing company in the ’80s, which she continues to use to this day to release her spoken word and musical work. Lunch has collaborated with Sonic Youth, Nels Cline, Weasel Walter, Exene Cervenka, Nick Zedd, Richard Kern and many others in the fields of music, literature, film and photography.
For this performance, Lunch’s spoken word works will feature abstract instrumental accompaniment by Matt Nelson and Tim Dahl. Some of our audience will know Nelson from his work in the excellent, extended-technique sax quartet, Battle Trance, and his outstanding, electronically processed solo saxophone record, Lower Bottom. Bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Tim Dahl was a member of the noise rock group, Child Abuse, and has worked with Yusef Lateef, Archie Shepp, Von Freeman, Mary Halvorson, Eugene Chadbourne, Peter Evans, Marc Ribot, Ava Mendoza and many other musicians across the spectrum of creative music.
Saturday, February 15 at 6 p.m.
Poetry & Sound [live score]
Carlos Lara, Kai Ihns, Zan De Parry, Emily Roll
in collaboration with Ceremonial Abyss
$10–$20 suggested donation
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Murderous Again
The Dynamic Spoken Word of Lydia Lunch
with Tim Dahl and Matt Nelson
$18 in advance | $20 at entry
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
New York icon Lydia Lunch burst on to the scene as the teenage guitarist/singer of early No Wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, which she founded with James Chance at the end of the 1970s. After receiving high visibility from Teenage Jesus’ inclusion on the Brian Eno produced compilation, No New York, Lunch became a solo artist in 1980. She founded her own label and publishing company in the ’80s, which she continues to use to this day to release her spoken word and musical work. Lunch has collaborated with Sonic Youth, Nels Cline, Weasel Walter, Exene Cervenka, Nick Zedd, Richard Kern and many others in the fields of music, literature, film and photography.
For this performance, Lunch’s spoken word works will feature abstract instrumental accompaniment by Matt Nelson and Tim Dahl. Some of our audience will know Nelson from his work in the excellent, extended-technique sax quartet, Battle Trance, and his outstanding, electronically processed solo saxophone record, Lower Bottom. Bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Tim Dahl was a member of the noise rock group, Child Abuse, and has worked with Yusef Lateef, Archie Shepp, Von Freeman, Mary Halvorson, Eugene Chadbourne, Peter Evans, Marc Ribot, Ava Mendoza and many other musicians across the spectrum of creative music.
Saturday, February 15 at 6 p.m.
Poetry & Sound [live score]
Carlos Lara, Kai Ihns, Zan De Parry, Emily Roll
in collaboration with Ceremonial Abyss
$10–$20 suggested donation
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 4 p.m.
The Night Lives of Bats
A lecture by Vanessa Rojas, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Free and open to the public
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Join us to learn more about how bats benefit our ecosystems. See and hear their recorded echolocation sounds and learn to look for unique characteristics to identify bats by sight and sound. Vanessa Rojas has been studying bats for over 15 years, beginning with her graduate research at University of Michigan–Flint. She then continued her work as a bat educator and researcher, splitting her time between Detroit and the Smoky Mountains National Park. Her work studying bat habitats continued with a PhD in Wildlife Ecology. She is now an Associate Professor at a State University of New York campus based in the Adirondack Park.
A Literary Celebration of Tyrone Williams’ Life and Work
Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 5-8 p.m.
Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 5-8 p.m.
Free and open to the public
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Our dear friend and Three Fold editorial advisor, Detroit-born poet Tyrone Williams, passed away on March 11, 2024, one month after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. You are invited to attend a literary celebration of his life and work, organized by fellow Detroit poets.
Those presenting: Tyrone’s Sisters (Jacqueline Brooks, Wanda Gee, Andrea Martin), Alise Alousi, Rudy Baron, Melba Boyd, Pat Clifford, Lynn Crawford & John Haddad, Tod Duncan, Carla Harryman, Kim Hunter, Barbara Henning, Geoffrey Jacques, M.L. Liebler, Jonah Mixon-Webster, Kofi Natambu (via audio), Julie Patton, Lee Sandweiss, Suzanne Scarfone, Dennis Teichman, Chris Tysh and Rayfield Waller.
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Our dear friend and Three Fold editorial advisor, Detroit-born poet Tyrone Williams, passed away on March 11, 2024, one month after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. You are invited to attend a literary celebration of his life and work, organized by fellow Detroit poets.
Those presenting: Tyrone’s Sisters (Jacqueline Brooks, Wanda Gee, Andrea Martin), Alise Alousi, Rudy Baron, Melba Boyd, Pat Clifford, Lynn Crawford & John Haddad, Tod Duncan, Carla Harryman, Kim Hunter, Barbara Henning, Geoffrey Jacques, M.L. Liebler, Jonah Mixon-Webster, Kofi Natambu (via audio), Julie Patton, Lee Sandweiss, Suzanne Scarfone, Dennis Teichman, Chris Tysh and Rayfield Waller.
The Hinterlands in Conversation with Jonathan Flatley
Sunday, April 7, 2024 at 7 p.m.
In conjunction with Will You Miss Me? A Dossier on The Hinterlands by Jonathan Flatley
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Sunday, April 7, 2024 at 7 p.m.
In conjunction with Will You Miss Me? A Dossier on The Hinterlands by Jonathan Flatley
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Ceremonial Abyss [live score]
Accompanied by Robert Laidler, Emily Roll, Tamar M. Boyadjian, Zan De Parry and John M. Ganiard
Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 7 p.m.
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Accompanied by Robert Laidler, Emily Roll, Tamar M. Boyadjian, Zan De Parry and John M. Ganiard
Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 7 p.m.
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Trinosophes First Fundraiser for Two Rooms Records and Three Fold Press
Poetry readings by Isaac Pickell, kim d. hunter, Robert Laidler
Friday, September 29 at 6 p.m.
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Isaac Pickell is a poet and PhD student in Detroit, where he teaches and studies the borderlands of Black literature. He is the author of the chapbook everything saved will be last (Black Lawrence Press, 2021) and It’s not over once you figure it out, a full-length collection forthcoming from Black Ocean in 2023. His most recent work can be found in Crazyhorse, Denver Quarterly, and Passages North.
Robert Laidler, Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Wayne State Department of English, is the author of a poetic libretto, The Fallen Petals of Nameless Flowers, which premiered at Chamber Music Detroit in 2022. He earned his MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan.
Based in Detroit, where he works for social justice groups in Michigan, kim d. hunter is a poet and prose writer. He is the author of a collection of short stories, The Official Report on Human Activity (Wayne State University, 2018), and two books of poetry: edge of the time zone (White Print Inc., 2009) and borne on slow knives (Past Tents, 2001). He co-directed the Woodward Line Poetry Series for thirteen years and holds a 2012 Kresge Literary Arts Fellowship.
Because this event is a fundraiser generating support for our free, online arts and literary journal, we appreciate contributions of $15 at the door, which buys you a ticket to stay beyond the reading and enjoy an evening also featuring music, refreshments and a raffle.
Dissidence: Exiled Writers on Resistance and Risk
Reading and discussion with Pwaangulongii Dauod, Dmitry Bykov, Pedro X. Molina, Anouar Rahmani
Friday, September 16, 2023 at 7 p.m.
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Reading and discussion with Pwaangulongii Dauod, Dmitry Bykov, Pedro X. Molina, Anouar Rahmani
Friday, September 16, 2023 at 7 p.m.
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
City of Asylum Detroit kicks off the first ever Cities of Asylum Solidarity Tour, an annual panel of writers, artists, musicians, and journalists who have been attacked, imprisoned, and censored because of their work. This year’s theme is “Dissidence: Exiled Writers on Resistance and Risk.”
Cities of Asylum, a safe haven network to protect writers’ freedom of expression and physical safety, was inspired by Salman Rushdie, who suffered an attempted assassination last month. City of Asylum Detroit is the newest of four branches in the US to adapt this mission to their local context. Since opening their doors in 2020, they’ve brought feminist Burmese poet Pencilio, queer Nigerian novelist Pwaangulongii Dauod, Haitian photojournalist Dieu-Nalio Chery and Haitian videographer Mathide Chery Debel to safety.
Dissidence panelists will include essayist Pwaangulongii Dauod, who received death threats for writing about queer culture in Nigeria; poet Dmitry Bykov, who nearly died in a poisoning, then was banned from teaching or appearing on Russian TV; political cartoonist Pedro X. Molina, who watched Nicaraguan state forces jail his colleagues and occupy his newspaper's offices; and novelist Anouar Rahmani, who was threatened with imprisonment for writing about human rights in Algeria.
All four were forced to flee their homelands, and all four found safe haven in a City of Asylum in the United States.
Timed for Banned Books Week, the event is part of a three-city tour among City of Asylum programs starting in Detroit then traveling to Pittsburgh and Ithaca. It is also part of the new Writers at Risk series at Wayne State University, featuring writer and journalist Danny Fenster, who spent six months in prison in Myanmar.
The attack on Rushdie is a brutal reminder of the importance of the mission of City of Asylum Detroit and the values we will continue to defend. Come hear the stories of dissident writers who have found safety thanks to his work, and learn about their commitment to free creative expression at this evening of readings and lively conversation.
“Dissidence: Exiled Writers on Resistance and Risk” is supported by a grant from Cornell University’s Migrations Global Grand Challenge and the Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative.
Cities of Asylum, a safe haven network to protect writers’ freedom of expression and physical safety, was inspired by Salman Rushdie, who suffered an attempted assassination last month. City of Asylum Detroit is the newest of four branches in the US to adapt this mission to their local context. Since opening their doors in 2020, they’ve brought feminist Burmese poet Pencilio, queer Nigerian novelist Pwaangulongii Dauod, Haitian photojournalist Dieu-Nalio Chery and Haitian videographer Mathide Chery Debel to safety.
Dissidence panelists will include essayist Pwaangulongii Dauod, who received death threats for writing about queer culture in Nigeria; poet Dmitry Bykov, who nearly died in a poisoning, then was banned from teaching or appearing on Russian TV; political cartoonist Pedro X. Molina, who watched Nicaraguan state forces jail his colleagues and occupy his newspaper's offices; and novelist Anouar Rahmani, who was threatened with imprisonment for writing about human rights in Algeria.
All four were forced to flee their homelands, and all four found safe haven in a City of Asylum in the United States.
Timed for Banned Books Week, the event is part of a three-city tour among City of Asylum programs starting in Detroit then traveling to Pittsburgh and Ithaca. It is also part of the new Writers at Risk series at Wayne State University, featuring writer and journalist Danny Fenster, who spent six months in prison in Myanmar.
The attack on Rushdie is a brutal reminder of the importance of the mission of City of Asylum Detroit and the values we will continue to defend. Come hear the stories of dissident writers who have found safety thanks to his work, and learn about their commitment to free creative expression at this evening of readings and lively conversation.
“Dissidence: Exiled Writers on Resistance and Risk” is supported by a grant from Cornell University’s Migrations Global Grand Challenge and the Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative.
Lives of the Saints by Alan Franklin
Book launch with a reading by Alan Franklin
Friday, April 8, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
A pointedly jaundiced look at the meaning of sainthood in the modern world, Franklin’s book is, among other things, the outcome of many years spent wondering how we humans went so wildly astray in our treatment of each other and of our shared planetary home. In that vein, Franklin’s multiple narrators embody, confront or critique a panoply of contemporary saints and their symptoms, from Christopher Columbus to Adolph Hitler, from family psychodynamics to globe-encircling hierarchies of power and domination. And all with a smile on their lips and a song in their hearts.
For most of his years as a fixture in Detroit’s Cass Corridor arts, music, and politics scene, guitarist Alan Franklin has been best known as a songwriter/singer with that city’s anarcho ska-punk band, the Layabouts. During that same time, his prose writings have appeared in riverrun magazine, the Fifth Estate, the Daily Barbarian, Subversions (Montreal), Dispatch Detroit, Three Fold and Autonomedia.
Ferne, A Detroit Story by Barbara Henning
Book launch with readings by Barbara Henning and Lynn Crawford and introductions by Chris Tysh, Three Fold Poetry Editor
Sunday, March 6, 2023 at 3 p.m. EST on ZoomBook launch with readings by Barbara Henning and Lynn Crawford and introductions by Chris Tysh, Three Fold Poetry Editor
Three Fold is delighted to present a virtual book launch for Ferne, A Detroit Story, a hybrid biography of the life of author Barbara Henning's mother, as well as a history of Detroit, the city in which she lived. About the book, Henning writes:
“Ferne was extraordinary in a very ordinary way, one of the many remembered only by family and friends; she was vibrant, funny and tender. Each of us has a particular story, a particular engagement with our dreams and desires as we encounter the limits of our mortality. As a young working-class woman, Ferne juggled with her possibilities, living through the first wave of feminism, Prohibition, the Great Depression and World War II; she died at 37 with four children, leaving an absence that demanded this retelling. The book is a collage of novelized story, with photographs and newspaper clipping from The Detroit Times, as well as from other histories and papers.”
A native Detroiter who lives in New York, Barbara Henning is the author of four novels and eight collections of poetry, most recently, Digigram (United Artists Books 2020) and a novel, Just Like That (Spuyten Duyvil, 2016). She has edited The Selected Prose of Bobbie Louise Hawkins (BlazeVox, 2012) and Looking Up Harryette Mullen (Belladonna, 2011).
This afternoon literary event opens with a reading by fiction writer Lynn Crawford of a novel in-progress as well as an excerpt from Crawford’s Three Fold literary series, Imaginary Dinner Party. Crawford's other books include Solow (House of Outside Press/Hard Press Editions, 1995), Blow (Hard Press Editions, 1998), Fortification Resort (Black Square Editions, 2005) a series of art-related sestinas, Simply Separate People (Black Square Editions/Hammer Books, 2002), Simply Separate People, Two (Black Square Editions and the Brooklyn Rail, 2011) and Shankus & Kitto: A Saga (DittoDitto, 2016).