Robert Fanning

Wardell Montgomery, Jr.

Diane Shipley DeCillis

Jamaal “Versiz” May

MDW Downtown Literary Series
April 22 Sunday at 2 pm at The Scarab Club
Metro Detroit Writers continues its popular literary series with what promises to be an exciting and entertaining afternoon with Robert Fanning (Program Director of Inside Out),Wardell Montgomery, Jr. (Popular Detroit Urban-Folk Poet and author), Diane Shipley DeCillis (Poet, Co-Editorof Mona Poetica: A Poetry Anthology and owner of The Print Gallery) and Jamaal “Versiz” May (Popular Detroit Slam Poet & national slammer). Don’t miss this reading!

Robert Fanning is the Program Director for InsideOut Literary Arts Project and author of The Seed Thieves. In 2003, his chapbook Old Bright Wheel, won the Ledge Press Poetry Award. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Poetry, Ploughshares, The Atlanta Review, The Hawaii Review, America, The Ledge, and Artword Quarterly. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Sarah Lawrence College, Fanning’s writing awards include a Creative Artist Grant from ArtServe Michigan, the Inkwell Poetry Award, and the Foley Poetry Award.

Wardell Montgomery, Jr. is an urban folk poet, a native Detroiter who wrote songs as a member of the original Motown Records family in the late sixties. He is also an author, editor, producer and performance artist. CD Baby produced a CD titled Do I Have to Live Like This? with spoken word by Wardell and jazz by saxophonist Keith Gamble and pianist Mike Evans.

Diane Shipley DeCillis is a graduate of University of Michigan. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Nimrod International Journal, Rattle, William & Mary Review, South Dakota Review, Puerto del Sol, Poet Lore and others. Winner of the Crucible Poetry Prize for 2005 and the 2005 MacGuffin National Poet Hunt, she is co-editor of Mona Poetica, an anthology of Mona Lisa poetry. She owns an award-winning art gallery in Southfield, Michigan and is author of the web site MonaLisaMania.Com.

Jamaal “Versiz” May is a poet, producer, rapper and recording engineer. He has made three Detroit poetry slam teams, been named Detroit Grand Slam Champion twice, made final stage at the last two Individual World Poetry Slams and placed eleventh at the last National Poetry Slam in Albuquerque. Jamaal is a Broadside Press Jury Prize winner and a Cave Canem Fellow.