The Penny Stamps speaker series recently hosted an event at Ypsilanti’s Dreamland Theater.

Though the University of Michigan’s Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker series—which spotlights cutting edge contemporary artists of all stripes, from across the globe, on Thursdays at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater—has grown in popularity and esteem for more than a decade, it’s still tough to put together a lineup each fall and winter semester.

“These are people who don’t make their living by speaking,” said series director Chrisstina Hamilton. “They make their living by doing work, and they’re really successful at it. So speaking is not the first thing on the agenda they want to do. It doesn’t move their work forward. … And on top of that, these are people who are really busy. … It often takes six years from an initial contact before we can finally get it on their agenda, in terms of importance, and before they work it into their schedule.” READ THE REST HERE