Former Detroiter publishes epic poem about city, offers critique of recent development

Writer Kristin Palm lived in the Detroit area for a decade -- she left for San Francisco in 2002 -- but she returned recently to celebrate the release of her Motor City-centric book The Straits. She took some time exploring her former stomping grounds and, as a blogger for Metropolis, she shared her views on the good -- Dequindre Cut and MOCAD -- and the not-so-good -- the music blared at the RiverWalk.

The Straits began as a graduate school exercise and evolved into something much more complex: an epic poem covering three centuries of Detroit spanning the French landing to the present day.

As a writer, her eye is tuned to esoteric planning details: Phil Collins playing from a speaker on an otherwise peaceful morning along the river, the gratifying fact that the powers-that-be are leaving the graffiti be on the Dequindre Cut and the welcome green respite that is Campus Martius.

"I used to work in the First National Building," she says. "I wished there was a park to go to -- I used to go to Kennedy Square and Hart Plaza -- that was a little bit more green."

Another positive is the Dequindre Cut, in particular the graffiti element. "Usually when something 'artistic' becomes part of redevelopment, the actual art gets whitewashed," she notes. "Globally, it's really exciting to see."

She sees the same architectural approach at MOCAD. "It's the same thing: 'Let's appreciate what's already here, not wipe it out and create a sanitized facsimile,' " she says.

She isn't all puppies and roses in her observations, in particular when it comes to the RiverWalk -- although she is "really glad it's there." She says it could use a bit more green in the design and also decries the programmed music. "Maybe it's from moving someplace where people are more crammed in that I'm more sensitive to being bombarded," she says. "But it's water and it's natural -- that’s all you need."

Read Palm's full blog post about her most recent visit here and find out more about her book here.

Source: Kristin Palm
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh