Detroit, MI

Eager readers enjoy the hunt at Detroit Festival of Books

Published

9 months ago

July 20, 2025

Eager readers enjoy the hunt at Detroit Festival of Books

Detroit — Matthew Byrg went hunting Sunday, and he bagged plenty.

His take included underground comic books, science fiction magazines, a blue cyborg print and Milestone comic books. Byrg, 23, of Detroit picked up all of that in an afternoon at the eighth annual Detroit Festival of Books (Detroit Bookfest for short), which drew crowds of eager readers on the prowl for all things printed at Eastern Market.

He was especially geeked to find the Milestone comics, produced by a company founded by Black artists and creators in 1993 who wanted to depict a universe of diverse superheroes.

“They came up with Static Shock … they’re like the best guys ever. I love them down,” Bryg said. “I’m glad I was able to get a hold of some of their stuff.

“It’s definitely a hunt,” he continued. “It’s all about the thrill of the hunt whether you’re at a thrift store or Comicon, it’s about digging through all of the dirty boxes and finding that little gem that fits for you. That’s what it’s all about and that’s the joy of it.”

He wasn’t the only reader on the hunt for books and related items including pins, artwork, tarot cards, records, sketch books and more.

Bronwyn Perialas of Midland found motherhood and astrology books she planned to share with friends.

“I found a really great book about becoming a mom regardless of what that might look like. It might look different for everyone,” said Perialas, 29. “I think just supporting local authors and getting to talk face-to-face with an author that I bought from, and connect with them in doing so, you can relate with them more. It’s more intimate than just buying from Amazon.”

Local authors were on site selling and signing their books. The event, which bills itself as Michigan’s largest book festival, also featured live music and exhibits by organizations like the Printing Stewards which emphasized the bookfest’s mission of helping generate a deeper love and appreciation of books.

The Printing Stewards were making marks that read “Detroit” and printing postcards with typecasting equipment, which members work to preserve.

“We are preserving equipment that makes metal type and a lot of it is extremely rare,” said Fritz Swanson, the organization’s president and a professor of book history at the University of Michigan. “This kind of equipment deserves, not just to be preserved in a museum, it deserves to be preserved in continual use.”

Friends Amiya Carreras of Southfield, Erin Flynn of Allen Park and Taylor Wiley of West Bloomfield visited the fest to share their love for reading together. They all bought tote bags that read “Detroit is for Readers.”

Flynn wore a shirt that read “Hot Girls Read Books,” and bought “Love and Other Words” by Christina Lauren, whose novel tells the story of a woman’s chance encounter with her first love and what it unearths.

Carreras bought bookmarks, stitched art and “The Poppy War,” a military fantasy novel by R.F. Kuang that draws on China’s 20th century history.

“We’re all big readers,” Carreras said.

mjohnson@detroitnews.com

@_myeshajohnson

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Detroit, MI

Justin Verlander placed on injured list for Tigers with hip issue

Published

2 hours ago

April 4, 2026

Press Room

Justin Verlander placed on injured list for Tigers with hip issue

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander has been placed on the 15-day injured list with left hip inflammation.

Keider Montero will be called up and is expected to start Sunday, April 5, against the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park.

It will be retroactive to April 1, so the earliest Verlander will be eligible to return is April 16.

Verlander has already pitched once this season, although his first start was forgettable. He gave up five runs off six hits in 3⅔ innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He struggled with his command, throwing 80 pitches (53 for strikes) while recording one strikeout with two walks. Since then, he has worked on his mechanics.

“Head position,” he said Saturday. “Trying to be a little more deceptive and stay in line a little bit longer.”

The Diamondbacks hit Verlander hard, making contact with seven balls that featured an exit velocity over 100 mph.

“It wasn’t good enough,” Verlander said. “I hope it’s not like last year … months trying to find it. Hopefully I find it a little quicker than that. But yeah, you know, I think talking to analysts and those guys and the stuff is actually pretty good, so not too far away. I hope.”

Verlander, 43, signed a one-year deal with the Tigers this offseason, returning to the franchise he spent his first 13 seasons with. He made 29 starts in 2025 for the San Francisco Giants.

And he was expected to start Sunday night against the Cardinals in Comerica Park in front of a national audience on “Sunday Night Baseball” on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service.

Montero was optioned to Triple-A by the Tigers on March 4, with the franchise planning on him as their No. 6 starter in the rotation.

“We’ve got to protect our rotation,” Hinch said when Montero was sent to Toledo. “For him, defining the role where we felt like he can help us the most was going to be, at some point, in our rotation. Whether that’s getting called up as a sixth starter, or god forbid anything happens, he’s equipped to handle that, and the only way to do that is get him going and building him as a starter.”

In 2025, Montero registered a 4.37 ERA with 31 walks and 72 strikeouts across 90⅔ innings in 20 games (12 starts) for the Tigers. He also logged a 5.91 ERA across 42⅔ innings in 10 games (eight starts) for Triple-A Toledo.

Montero has made one start for Toledo, throwing four scoreless innings against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on March 29. He struck out three with one walk.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff

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Detroit, MI

‘Downtown Takeover’ in Detroit leads to several teens being detained, dozens in the streets

Published

14 hours ago

April 4, 2026

Press Room

‘Downtown Takeover’ in Detroit leads to several teens being detained, dozens in the streets

Crowd of teens out past curfew detained downtown

The incident was not random, as ‘Ceasefire Detroit’ announced that there were talks of a “Downtown Takeover” involving kids and teens. Throughout Friday evening, videos from social media showed large groups of teens running around in the downtown area past curfew.

DETROIT (FOX 2) – Dozens of teens swarmed Downtown Detroit, leading to a heavy police presence in the area.

What we know:

Detroit police say a gun was fired during the commotion but no one was hurt. Police are working to determine who fired the shot. Police sources also told FOX 2 that officials have been tracking the kids and teens around the city all night.

Meanwhile, officials have been detaining teens, but due to the large number of people, they have been placed on buses.

What we don’t know:

It is unknown if anyone got hurt or how many people were detained/arrested. FOX 2 will update this report when we learn more.