UM-Flint Hosts an Evening of Poetry, Prose, and Discussion with Flint Poet Laureate Semaj Brown
Poet/Author Joins Dr. Erica Britt for a Facilitated Discussion of Bleeding Fire
Flint, MI – Semaj Brown, Flint’s inaugural Poet Laureate, joins University of Michigan-Flint Sociolinguistics Professor Dr. Erica Britt for an evening of poetry, prose, and discussion on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at 6 PM in Kiva Auditorium, 400 Mill Street, Flint, on the UM-Flint campus. Brown will read from her recently published book, Bleeding Fire: Tap the Regenerative Light of the Eternal Spring, and then discuss her work, writing process, and her recent appointment as Vehicle City’s first Poet Laureate with Britt, who will guide the talk and encourage audience engagement.
Brown, a Detroit-transplant who has called Flint home for eighteen years, was named Poet Laureate in October 2019. Flint’s Chief Public Health Advisor Pamela Pugh, who is also Vice President of the State Board of Education, noted that city officials recommended Brown’s appointment as part of the city’s
public health programming.
The UM-Flint event continues Brown’s promotion of Bleeding Fire, which began in August at a similarly structured evening at Flint’s Mott-Warsh Gallery. Since that time, Brown has been the subject of several articles, appeared on television and radio shows, and read excerpts of her book at several regional
venues, including the Flint Public Library. Nominated for a 2019 Art of Achievement Award, Brown will introduce her Poet Laureate Poetry Pod Platform during the November 13 event, with literacy taking center stage.
The performance and discussion with Poet Laureate Semaj Brown, facilitated by Dr. Erica Britt, begins at 6 PM in Kiva Auditorium, located at 400 Mill Street, Flint, MI, on the campus of UM-Flint. The evening is free and open to all. For more information, please visit (insert website) or call (insert phone number). Copies of Bleeding Fire: Tap the Regenerative Light of the Eternal Spring will be available for purchase the night of the event.
About Semaj Brown
Semaj Brown is Flint’s First Poet Laureate. Semaj is a science-driven author, dramatist, playwright, and educator who builds interdisciplinary curriculum. Semaj shifts paradigms, creating innovations — her work merges art and science, left-and right brain modalities to challenge artistic and pedagogical
convention in science, health education, literary arts, and theater. She is co-founder, along with her husband, James Brown, MD, of Health Collectors™ LLC.
Her new book, Bleeding Fire! Tap the Eternal Spring of Regenerative Light, published by Broadside Lotus Press and Health Collectors™ LLC is an odyssey in African American History and Culture. Bleeding Fire is a searing conversation in poetry and prose — part memoir, part social commentary, part magical realism. These literary writings rise like flames from the ash and embers of her story. Readers grapple with the intensity of our collective reality while commemorating love and laughter. Semaj is chapter president of Flint Pierians, and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.