The schedule for As Read By the Author… is complete!
Writers from Flint and farther afield will host a series of readings and discussions of their work.
Please see the schedule below and scroll further to read the bios of individual authors. All readings will take place in Room 205 on the second floor of the Flint Public Library, 1026 E. Kearsley Street.
11:00-11:30 DeQuindra Renea
11:30-12:00 Jessyca Mathews
12:00-12:30 Paul Counelis
12:30-1:00 Gary Flinn
1:00-1:30 Elisabeth Blair
1:30-2:00 Gary Fisher
2:00-2:30 Joyce Cade-Hitchye
2:30-3:00 Carrie Mattern
3:00-3:30 Jeff Bean
3:30-4:00 Jesutofunmi Omowumi
11:00-11:30
DeQuindra Renea was born and raised in Flint, Michigan in the 90’s. During the time of popular R&B music, boy bands, Nintendo, and MTV, DeQuindra could be found with her nose stuck in a book. It was in middle school that she found her voice as a writer and started penning her own stories. This was the birth of DeQuindra as a writer, although being an author wouldn’t come for many years later.
In high school, DeQuindra always had a notebook in her hands, which contained whichever story she was writing at the time. Receiving feedback from family and friends, she knew it was not only something she truly enjoyed, but that entertained others. Even then, she did not consider a career in writing and when she graduated in 2008, she went to college to pursue a degree in Human Resource Management, a career that matched closest with her outgoing personality. After turning in a short story to an English professor who encouraged her to finish it, she decided writing should be something done more than just for fun.
In 2015, DeQuindra published Blazing Deception, her first novel and it sold well over 1000 copies and counting. She has also recently published a second novel Distrust, as well as co-wrote a play, Appointments: An Account of the Flint Water Crisis, with two other Flint authors that raises awareness about The Flint Water Crisis, a situation that has affected her and her family tremendously. She graduated from the University of Michigan-Flint in December of 2016 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management.
Besides being an author and recent graduate, DeQuindra is a mother to a beautiful 5-year-old little girl, an avid reader, blogger and self-proclaimed karaoke star. She enjoys cooking, eating, listening to music, talking, and traveling.
11:30-12:00
A native of Flint, Michigan, Jessyca Mathews has lived a life worth hearing. From hardships to success, Jessyca has used her skills in writing to share her story with audiences in recent years.
After receiving her high school diploma from Carman-Ainsworth High School, she received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint in English, with a minor in history. She also received a Specialization in Secondary Education at the University of Michigan-Flint, along with a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College. Along with these degrees, she attended Michigan State University and is a member of the Red Cedar Writing Project.
In 2009, Jessyca was an honorable mention winning writer for the national contest, Great American Classroom Makeover, sponsored by Great American Financial Resources. She was recognized by the institution and received a monetary prize.
In 2013, Jessyca Mathews won a national contest sponsored by MANA Publishing, and was named the 2013 Passion for Poetry writer. After winning this prestigious award, Jessyca was able to publish her first poetry collection, Simply: A Collection of Poetry. In 2015 she published her memoir, 318: A Chubby Chick’s Tale of Weight Loss Surgery and she co-wrote her first play, Appointments in 2017, which features a focus on the Flint water crisis.
Along with her writing, Ms. Mathews is a language arts teacher at Carman-Ainsworth High School and an activist against racial and environmental discrimination. This year, Jessyca was named a finalist for the NEA’s Social Justice Activist of the Year for her writing and work on the Flint water crisis. She also has been published writer in Nia Magazine, Pure Haiku, will have a short story featured in an upcoming anthology, and is a contributor to The Mighty Magazine.
12:00-12:30
Paul Counelis has written for Rue Morgue, Fright Times, Fear Finder, and Flint Comix, and he is the editor of print book Halloween Machine. He has also authored two YA book series’: Kendall Kingsley and Spook Sleuths (Fear Front Publishing). Finally, Paul has written several collections of poetry, horror fiction, a book about horror hosts around the country, and other titles about Halloween and the horror film history.
12:30-1:00
Gary Flinn is a product of the Flint Community Schools and a graduate of Mott Community College and Michigan State University who has lived in the Flint area for most of his life. His earliest writings were for Flint Central High School publications The Tribal Times and The Arrow Head. Besides Broadside, he also contributed articles for The Uncommon Sense, Your Magazine, the Flint Journal and Downtown Flint Revival magazine. He presently lives on Flint’s west side.
1:00-1:30
Elisabeth Blair is a poet, composer, and feminist podcaster currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her poetry has previously appeared in several online and print publications including S/tick, Wicked Alice, Dead Flowers: A Poetry Rag, The Literary Bohemian, Lilliput Review, and Acumen Literary Journal. In November 2016 her first chapbook, We He She/It, was published by Dancing Girl Press. In 2017 she was an artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, working with poet Heather McHugh.
1:30-2:00
Gary Fisher is a lifelong Michigan resident, with most spent in Flint and the Flint area. A graduate of Flint Central high school, the University of Michigan, and Central Michigan University, he’s also a member of the Adjunct Faculty at Olivet College. He’s the owner of GL Fisher Capital Management, located in downtown Flint. He and his wife Tracy also own an art and mural company and has created art all over Michigan and at local landmarks like Hurley Hospital where Tracy’s art graces the pediatric ICU, and was the inspiration for the TV show Shark Tank coming to Flint and donating a huge aquarium for Hurley and the Children’s Miracle Network. His family has nearly 100 years of history in Flint, and with General Motors. A board member of the Genesee County Historical Society, he guides tours of the Durant Dort building, the birthplace of both General Motors and arguably the American middle class. He’s written and spoken nationally about his hometown, and a wide range of topics. The author of many financial industry guides and training materials, he’s currently writing his first memoir about his hometown and the rich lessons and experiences it offers to Rust Belt denizens, expats, and anyone with an interest in the past, present, and future of American cities.
2:00-2:30
Joyce Cade-Hitchye is co-founder and co-chair of the Of Impact Show and L3C Leadership. Joyce has always had a passion for learning and helping others. She has learned from her father — a Korean War Marine veteran — that “giving back to your community is vital to its and your growth.” Joyce is a disabled honorably discharged veteran who served as a medic, LPN, and Nuclear Medicine Technologist during Desert Storm and out of the military. She has served in staff, managerial, and supervisory capacities for over twenty years. She is working on another degree in clinical psychology emphasizing Poetry Therapy. She has also written several books of poetry and short stories. Two have been published, as well as various poems that been published by local magazines. One of her BlogTalkRadio Network Shows (Of Impact Show) focuses on the literary world while the latter focuses on veterans’ concerns. She decided to form her own nonprofit dedicated to serving veterans and addressing their needs after dealing with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and MST (Military Sexual Trauma). Joyce has seen several family members and friends who are fellow veterans struggle with similar concerns.
2:30-3:00
Carrie Mattern graduated Cum Laude from Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan with a degree in teaching Language Arts, and a minor in Psychology. Her teaching career began in the thumb of Michigan where she enjoyed the close-knit community of Brown City, and many snow days. After a year of commuting an hour each way to school, and a newborn baby at home, Carrie decided to look for a teaching position closer to her hometown of Burton, Michigan. This led her back to where she was born, Flint, teaching 11th and 12th grade English at Carman-Ainsworth high school. Even though the population was immense compared to her years growing up in the small corridors of Bendle high school and rookie-teaching at Brown City Community Schools, the diverse school community welcomed Carrie like an old colleague fresh out of retirement. She continues learning there each day. A graduate publishing class at the University of Michigan-Flint gave Carrie the opportunity and time to learn more about writing and publishing in the summer of 2008. That is where her first published children’s story began. As a surprise, Carrie’s loving parents published Papa, Why Does the Wind Blow? for her as a birthday present. They are Carrie’s greatest fans, in all walks of her very-busy life. Since then Carrie has enjoyed learning about publishing through various trials and tribulations as an author and editor. Currently Carrie has released her sixth book, a 2014 NaNoWriMo mystery novel, Dread. Carrie’s inspiration comes from real events she reads about in the newspapers and things she experiences each day as a teacher, mother, and wife. Dread was inspired by a slave cemetery she and her uncle snuck into in Georgia one evening, as well as a newspaper article her friend Dan sent to her about kids getting scared out of their wits at a local bridge. When she’s not planning, grading papers, or writing, Carrie enjoys reading, practicing paddle board yoga, watching the Food Network while she runs on the treadmill, chasing after her four adorable children, and traveling the world with her baby-face husband.
3:00-3:30
Jeff Bean is a retired teacher of 30 years, 25 in the Flint Public Schools. Before teaching he tried hot air balloon piloting, highway construction, barn building, rehab counseling, acting, and logistics training. His purpose in life is to discuss and create relationships and, in that, examine his privilege and how to use it for the betterment of others. This passion is what drives his writing.
3:30-4:00
Jesutofunmi Omowumi is all about telling the hard stories – the very stories that should be at the forefront of our minds and not “Keeping Up with The Kardashians.” By now, you can tell he has a problem with pop culture. He is a poet and storyteller from Nigeria. He studied English at Covenant University, Nigeria and has his master’s degree in English (Writing and Rhetoric) from the University of Michigan-Flint. He has worked as a journalist: reporting political and business stories in Nigeria. His literature has been published on several platforms including The Kalahari Review, The Guardian Nigeria and in Qua Literary Journal here in Flint. He has a special interest in African, African American and Afro-diaspora literatures. He has a passion for telling multidimensional stories of the African peoples. You might hear him rant from time to time on why he doesn’t like the expression “black people”. In his stories, you will find terrorism, war, child soldiers and fifty shades of violence, perhaps love, but he promises you that he is not a sad man. He has been inspired by the literature of Toni Morrison, Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka. He currently teaches writing here in Flint.