There’s a reason so many American classics spring from the fertile literary terrain of Mississippi, says author and Ole Miss professor W. Ralph Eubanks, MA ’79. The trauma that informs its beauty ‘holds up a mirror to the rest of America,’ he says.

There’s still time to get in at least one more beach read, and what better place to find it than your favorite alumni shelf? U-M authors are as prolific as ever, penning titles ranging from young adult fiction to international thrillers.

Nearly 100 years before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic would unleash a wave of anti-Asian bias, a smaller but similar prejudice rippled across the U-M campus. It started with the 19th annual production of the Michigan Union Opera’s musical comedy, ‘Tickled to Death.’

Stamps students in Melanie Manos’ ‘Detroit Connections: In the Classroom’ course created ways to inspire kids with creative activities and remote art education throughout the pandemic.

The mural is 18 by 400 feet and includes several “flying” graduation caps set among white clouds, with a Block M and the words “Go Blue Class of 2021.” The project was led by Stamps alumnae Yen Azzaro and Liz Guilmet.

“Mapping Without Boundaries” will use performance and audience participation to reflect how the pandemic radically altered education and dispersed the University’s students, faculty, and staff.

Clara Hardie, U-M grad and Detroit resident, co-founded Detroit Youth Volume in 2010, a mixed-income Suzuki violin program that offers scholarships and extra support for lower income students seeking classical music training.

Coping with loss during COVID is crushing. But filmmaker Amy Moore, BA ’83, and arts curator Amanda Krugliak, BFA ’84, found joy amid the sorrow. They conceived a whimsical installation in Moore’s home to celebrate its late designer, Lance Lawlor, MFA ’75.

To ease the pain of this musician’s medical journey, his support team at Michigan Medicine connected him to the Gifts of Art program. They fulfilled David Labelle’s wish to play the grand piano in University Hospital before he passed away.