Spread the Word: One Night to Inspire a Lifetime of Reading

Please join Detroit author, Anna Clark, and National Book Foundation Executive Director, Lisa Lucas, as they shine a light on a very special new literary partnership in Detroit: BookUp & iO.

Your presence will help spread a love of words to more youth in Detroit.

Hosted by
Annmarie and Paul Erickson

Appetizers and Wine will be served.
Please purchase tickets by June 3rd.
$120 of the ticket price is tax deductible

Planning Committee: Gloria Whelan, Kelly Fordon, Maureen Clinesmith, Gina Granger, Terry Blackhawk, Shawntai Brown, and Leslie Shipman

Special Guests

Anna Clark: A journalist in Detroit. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Washington Post, Elle Magazine, Next City,and other publications. She is the director of applications for Write A House. Anna, a former Fulbright fellow, is the author of Michigan Literary Luminaries: From Elmore Leonard to Robert Hayden and she edited A Detroit Anthology, a 2015 Michigan Notable Book. She's currently at work on a book about the Flint water crisis for Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt. Anna will be part of the 2016-17 class of Knight-Wallace Fellows at the University of Michigan.

Lisa Lucas: The Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as the Publisher of Guernica, a non-profit online magazine focusing on writing that explores the intersection of art and politics with an international and diverse focus. Prior to that she served as Director of Education at the Tribeca Film Institute, on the development team at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and as a consultant for the Sundance Institute, San Francisco Film Society, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and ReelWorks Teen Filmmaking. Lucas also serves on the literary council of the Brooklyn Book Festival.

BookUp is a national program serving over 300 students annually. We are creating not just a new generation of readers, but a new generation of confident, engaged citizens. Since its inception in 2007, BookUp has provided its students with over 25,000 books free of charge. In 2016 we launched our first Detroit site in partnership with InsideOut Literary Arts Project.