The Metro: Detroit’s Alternative Press gave a voice to a generation of artists. A new book tells its story
In 1969, Ann and Ken Mikolowski launched The Alternative Press in the Cass Corridor. For 30 years, the periodical published writings and poetry from their contemporaries that spoke to the political and cultural moment.
When political tensions are high, artists and creatives use their work to weigh in. In 1960’s Detroit, a poet and a painter, built a place for that work to live and be shared across the country and the world.
In 1969, Ann and Ken Mikolowski taught themselves how to operate a printing press, and launched The Alternative Press in the Cass Corridor. For 30 years, the periodical published writings and poetry from their contemporaries that spoke to the political and cultural moment.
Rebecca Kosick, an associate professor of comparative poetry and poetics at the University of Bristol, is recognizing those efforts in her new book “Dispatches from the Avant-Garage.” In it she details the Mikolowski’s story and their efforts launching The Alternate Press. Kosick joined the show to discuss the publication’s lasting impact.
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