By Kim Hunter, Woodward Line Poetry The Woodward Line Poetry Series was one of 56 winners chosen from 1400 applicants to the Knight Arts Challenge Detroit

THE STORY Detroit has more than a great literary “scene,” it has a literary community whose roots stretch back at least to 1965 with Dudley Randall’s internationally noted Broadside Press.  The Woodward Line Poetry Series has been part of that community for 13 years and we’re working harder than ever to keep writers together with the people that love them.

That work includes raising money to match funds we were awarded in 2013. That money will buy new chairs, a much needed sound system and help us shoot, edit and post video of the readings and the interviews with the poets to expand the audience and the accessibility of the work.  We bring in notable writers from all over the country to read with the notable writers that live here. We explore their work/reading with conversation and post video online for everyone to witness the community we have and the one we’re building. We’re on a mission to raise Detroit’s profile as a place for creative writers and deep audiences.

TWO GREAT THINGS HAVE HAPPENED SINCE THE EARLY DAYS Two of us, James Hart and Kim Hunter, co-direct the Woodward Line Poetry Series.  We began the monthly reading series in a funky little theater cum art gallery under another name. Since then, two great things have happened.

First, we moved to the beautiful, historic Scarab Club Art Gallery. Second, we got a matching grant from the Knight Arts Challenge Detroit. Fourteen hundred groups applied to the Challenge, fifty-six were chosen and we were one those. We got a matching grant of $30,000 over a two-year period to expand the audience for poetry and make it more accessible.

A grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts has helped us match the Knight funds and we’ve had contributions from individuals who believe Detroiters deserve a place to gather and hear great writers. We need to raise $5,000 more to get us through this season to the next grant cycle into early 2015. All donations will be doubled, matched by the Knight Arts Challenge.

YOU CAN BE THE THIRD GREAT THING THAT HAPPENS TO OUR COMMUNITY This campaign gives you a chance keep an important venue alive and well for people who rely on it month after month. The most important thing about your support is that it will keep award-winning writers from Michigan and around the country available to Detroit area audiences that have come to expect great things from us.

We’ve featured the poet, scholar, filmmaker and NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu, the innovative Lee Ann Brown of NYC and the amazing surrealist from South Central LA, Will Alexander. Just this September, we had our first National Book Award winner, Nathaniel Mackey, who was also received the 2014 Lifetime achievement award from the Poetry Foundation. Michigan’s renowned poet-funeral director Thomas Lynch kicked off our National Poetry Month celebration. Detroit’s own National Endowment of the Arts Fellows such as Chris Tysh and George Tysh and Detroit expat Hayan Charara have read for the series as well as Cave Canem stand out and Callalo editor Vievee Francis. We’ve spent years working to deliver the best poetry in the country to an eager, attentive community.

Of course, we have great perks including books signed by Poet Laureate Philip Levine and the late William S. Burroughs. But, the biggest perk is the support that keeps alive Detroit’s longest running, most consistent venue for great writers, a place where audiences and artists create community.

Michigan State Rep. Rashida Tlaib recognizes James Hart and Kiim Hunter of Woodward Line Poetry Series for 2014 Michigan Council for the Arts grant