BY AJ TRAGER
ANN ARBOR – Crammed into the front room of the Jim Toy Community Center, a small crowd of roughly 20 people gathered to watch the first slam poetry event at JTCC's OutFest.
Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti poets Averett Robey, Jeffrey Oddo, Jason B. Crawford, Emmanuela Aline Jannaro and John X Gundx performed for the first time at OutFest, with Crawford as emcee.
"Yesterday was by far one of my favorite performances so far as a poet and writer. I got to emcee a great cast of artists, read to an amazing audience and share a space with people working to help our movement move forward," Crawford wrote on his Facebook page.
Themes of the night included lesbian love, the ongoing struggle for LGBT equality, how we find ourselves, fairytales and an improvisational performance of Michael Buble's "Feeling Good" by Crawford and Gundx.
Other OutFest 2015 event activities included a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" "Time Warp" costume competition, community yoga, live music, workshops and educational panels.
