(Chelsea Update would like to thank Laura Brown for the information in this story.)
Chelsea District Library (CDL) recently announced the 15th Annual Midwest Literary Walk lineup featuring New York Times best-selling author Jamie Ford, Pulitzer-prize winning poet Tyehimba Jess, and acclaimed writer and musician Kristin Hersh.
Each year, Chelsea’s literary event showcases award-winning authors from around the country at historic venues throughout downtown. The authors will read from their works, share insights into their writing process, and be available for book signings.
The Walk will take place from 1–5 p.m. on Saturday, April 22 and is open to all without ticket costs or reservations.
At 1 p.m., Pulitzer prize-winning poet Tyehimba Jess opens the walk at Main Street Church, 320 N. Main St. Jess is a Cave Canem and NYU Alumni, received a 2004 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and was a 2004–2005 Winter Fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. He is the author of two books of poetry, Leadbelly and Olio. Olio won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, The Midland Society Author’s Award in Poetry, and received an Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.
Leadbelly was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. The Library Journal and Black Issues Book Review both named it one of the “Best Poetry Books of 2005.”
Kristin Hersh continues the walk at 2:30 p.m. at Chelsea First Congregational Church, 121 E. Middle St. Nationally recognized, Hersh has had a storied career as a solo artist and a member of bands Throwing Muses and 50FOOTWAVE. Her breakthrough memoir, Rat Girl, was named number 8 in Rolling Stones’ list of 25 Greatest Rock Memoirs of All Time. In 2015’s Don’t Suck, Don’t Die, she writes about her friendship with musician Vic Chesnutt. In Toby Snax, Hersh delves into the world of children’s books, encouraging children to explore the world around them and to not be afraid to try new things.
In 2021, Hersh released Seeing Sideways, a memoir focusing on her family. Hersh has also written some of her albums in book form: Wyatt at the Coyote Palace, Paradise/Purgatory, and Crooked.
The walk concludes at 4 p.m. at Chelsea First United Methodist Church, 128 Park St., with New York Times best-selling author Jamie Ford. Ford is the great grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated from Hoiping, China, to San Francisco in 1865, where he adopted the western name “Ford.”
His debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, spent two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list. Ford’s latest novel, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy, was named #1 IndieNext list pick for August 2022, as well as a Read with Jenna book club pick for the same month.
An award-winning short story writer, Ford’s work has been published in multiple anthologies, from Asian-themed steampunk set in Seattle in the Apocalypse Triptych, to stories exploring the universe of masked marvels and caped crusaders from an Asian American perspective in Secret Identities: The first Asian American Superhero Anthology, and Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology. He’s also written in other genres: speculative, dystopian, crime noir, and middle-grade horror.
Books will be available for purchase at each location courtesy of independent bookstores Literati and Serendipity Books. Time will be reserved for book signings following each author session. For more information about this year’s Midwest Literary Walk visit www.midwestliterarywalk.org.
This year’s event is sponsored by the Friends of Chelsea District Library and in partnership with Literati Bookstore, WDET, Astral Road Media, Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, and Serendipity Books.
