BathHouse Literary Journal and Events
About BathHouse
The creative writing program’s BathHouse Journal and Events Series showcase multi-media approaches to writing, improvised and interactive performances, discussions on the role of art in contemporary life, exhibits, collaborations, and innovative writing by groundbreaking established writers and exciting new artists. Recent guests have come from all over the United States as well as Kenya, Russia, Canada, and England. With four to six events per year and over 200 attendees per event, BathHouse Events is an integral part of EMU's thriving undergraduate and graduate Creative Writing Programs. Student responses range from "mind-blowing," to "surprised, happily surprised, at how much more I understood by just listening and watching," to "captivating—I forgot I was at school."”
Our name, "BathHouse," connotes hybridity and history, recalling the 19th-century sanatoriums, bathhouses and mineral water wells that flourished in Ypsilanti, Michigan at the turn of the century. The "foul smelling" waters of the Atlantis well—in the vicinity of the current Jones-Goddard dorm on the EMU campus—were bottled and shipped nationwide and touted as a cure for 33 disorders of the blood, until the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906.
BathHouse Literary Journal
The EMU Creative Writing Program publishes the online literary journal BathHouse, which is edited by students in the master's program and published twice per year. BathHouse Events
BathHouse Events is an integral part of the Creative Writing Program at Eastern Michigan University. The series features new writing by groundbreaking established writers and exciting new artists. BathHouse Events showcases innovative approaches to writing, improvised and interactive performances, exhibits, and collaborations, as well as discussions on the role of art in contemporary life.
Recently, BathHouse Events has featured Edwin Torres, Claudia Rankine, Jonah Mixon-Webster, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Nathaniel Mackey, Ted Pearson, Dawn Lundy Martin, CA Conrad, Miranda Mellis, Robert Glück, Teju Cole, Andrea Brady, Tonya Foster, and John Keene.
It would be hard to exaggerate the value of Bathhouse Events to our students and our community, as it offers models of living, breathing, and embodied writing, and the opportunity to learn from writers practicing their art in a wide range of contexts and forms.
All BathHouse Events are LBC-approved, FREE and open to the public.
Recent guest readers have come from all over the United States as well as Kenya, Russia, Canada, and England.
Learn more about our recent guest readers or hear and see past readings and performances on the Creative Writing Program's YouTube page.
Contact Us
For more information on the BathHouse Journal or Reading Series, contact Austin Bragdon in the EMU English Department 734.487.4220 or email Austin Bragdon.