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Michael Moriarty's debut poetry collection, The Ill Lad and The Odd MC presents poignant snapshots of a young life spent in Ann Arbor. The poet details humiliations and hard lessons endured in area schools and chronicles a young man's transformation from shy kid into wannabe gangsta. His words reveal minds on the edge of crumbling and families that refuse to. Throughout the book, Moriarty excavates the strange, frightening, and redemptive, with honesty that is immediate and very human.

Mike Moriarty

Called a “Local rising star” by the Ann Arbor News, Michael Moriarty is a regular in the city’s poetry scene at Sweetwaters, Washtenaw Community College, The University of Michigan, and The Neutral Zone where he facilitates writing workshops as the assistant Director of the Volume Youth Poetry Project and coaches the youth national poetry slam team. He is a member of the professional spoken word troupe Ann Arbor Wordworks, the 2008 A2 Slam Champion, and has taught and performed in schools across the state of Michigan.

TeaHaus Feature

Check me out at the first ever
TeaHaus Looseleaf Reading.

Event:
TeaHaus Looseleaf Reading.
(Feature and open mic.)

Time:
7:00pm
Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Location:
TeaHaus
204 N. 4th Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

WCC's poetry 'rock star' releases book

"He's the most talented young writer I've run across in my teaching career,"
said Zimmerman, who has worked at WCC for 17 years. "He has that unusual
combination of a lot of talent and also a good work ethic, because poems don't
write themselves."

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A Community of Writers, Reading

A Community of Writers, Reading
by Leah DuMouchel The Ann Arbor News
Friday January 30, 2009, 2:36 PM

The featured reader was local rising star Michael Moriarty, the 2008
Ann Arbor Poetry Grand Slam champion who mines fifth-grade humiliation and
American imperialism with equal grace, then delivers it all with a rolling
cadence and sunny smile that are both inescapably infectious.

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Best bets: Here is where hip hop and poetry meet in Ann Arbor

What to expect if you show up? "My work tends to have a bit of a
confessional nature to it, a hip-hop element," said Moriarty

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WCC poets grab the mike

Although most of the crowd in Barnes and Noble were selling books that day, it's doubtful they could have ignored Michael Moriarty's confident cadence above the din. Moriarty was standing at a microphone near the entrance, reciting original poetry to a small but enthusiastic crowd at the school's first ever poetry reading, hosted by the school bookstore.
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