We brought the funk...

...to the John Waldron Arts Center last night. And wow. It was electrifying. Aracelis Girmay, Tyehimba Jess, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Patrick Rosal read to a packed house and brought it down, with harmonicas, hyena-voices, and a whole heck of a lot more crazy stuff.

We're grateful to all the people who put this reading together, including Ross Gay, Cathy Bowman and the rest of the IU Creative Writing department. It was just so great to be a part of this amazing event. Some photos below...and more to come...

Abdel and Danny check out some books before the show.


Abdel explains how our funk got to be so funky.


Aracelis Girmay kicks it off with a funk poem for Sly and the Family Stone.

Tyehimba Jess takes a break from the harmonica.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil explains what happens to an octopus when it gets scared.


Patrick Rosal closes out the set with an excerpt from his new work in progress, a novel in verse.