Organizers of a literary event at the Scarab Club are looking for family secrets, and they plan to share them.
It’s all in the spirit of art, literature and genealogy. And the secrets will remain anonymous.
The evening, which is free of charge, is called “Portrait of a Secret,” and it will take place at the Scarab Club, the Cultural Center arts hub, on February 25, at 6:30 p.m.
The main event is a discussion of the 2009 book “Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret,” by Steve
Luxenberg, right, an editor at the Washington Post who grew up in Detroit, where much of “Annie’s Ghosts” takes place.
Described as part memoir, part detective story and part history, “Annie’s Ghosts” tells of Luxenberg’s investigation into his “secret aunt,” who was confined to the Eloise mental hospital in western Wayne County for many years as her existence was kept from Luxenberg and his generation of the family.
“Annie’s Ghosts” is the current book of the Great Michigan Read project that is sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council, and it has been praised by critics since its 2010 publication.
Pivoting off the book about a family secret, the Scarab Club evening will include a talk by Mark Bowden, a genealogy expert from the Detroit Public Library’s Burton Collection, who will discuss resources for finding family stories.
And adding a special texture to the evening will be artwork based on the family secrets that the public has shared with the Scarab Club in advance.
Family secrets can be shared -- anonymously -- at the secret-sharing site.
The evening is presented by the Literary Detroit, the Wayne State University Press and the Scarab Club.
