The Motor Signal Reading Series jolts the poetry reading out of its conventional form. Motor Signal invites local poets to read their work, but it goes beyond a typical poetry reading by involving the audience in an activity of literary co-creation. Our FIFTH season is here, featuring Amy Haimerl and J.M. Leija!

Amy Haimerl is a professor of journalism at Michigan State University and the author of "Detroit Hustle," a memoir of rehabbing a historic home in the Motor City. She also covers entrepreneurship and urban policy for Fortune, Reuters and the New York Times. She lives in Detroit with her husband, Karl, and their cat, The Overlord.

J.M. Leija is a Detroit educator and essayist. Her most recent essay was published in the January issue of the Tishman Review and she was previously featured in "A Detroit Anthology." She was a 2015 Write A House finalist, a graduate of the University of Michigan English Department and of the Bennington College Writing Seminars in Summer 2014. For the last three years she has been hard at work on a collection of essays about teaching DPS students during the most difficult time in educational history: right now.

The 2018 Season of Motor Signal is supported by a generous grant from The Robert and Toni Bader Charitable Foundation.

Amy Haimerl

JM Leija