From the MPLS Creatives' Support Group!

MPLS Creatives' Support Group is for creatives of all types to receive kind constructive criticism for their work. We'll help each other take the next step to getting our art into the world.

Artists of all skill levels are welcome to join in! Bring a project you've been working on!

Join us to celebrate the release of Scott Vetsch’s latest book, Tilt-A-Whirl.

Tilt-A-Whirl cranks you from the quicksand of innocence to the dark end of the baby boom. Set during the cultural revolution of the 60s and 70s, these stories bridge the Mississippi and generations, in a time that crosses the borders of tradition, music, friendship, and love. From the hope and expectations of home, to the world of psychedelics and rock and roll radio, these poetic snapshots chronicle the trials and experiments of a boy’s life.

Scott Vetsch often hears things wrong, which makes them right. He’s a carpenter who works in old houses, a child in a man’s body, a soul in exile. He likes a good story, whichever way it comes. Loves cats and crows, inhabits worlds of his own making. He’s afraid things aren’t getting better, but hopes he’s mistaken. He burns wood, craves hamburgers and eats tofu, scoffs at money, envies the contented, and drives a truck. When he’s happy he wants beer. When he’s sad he wonders why. He knows one thing for certain, he’s a writer in a post-literate world.

Join us for a lovely pre-launch reading of Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg’s latest book, The Magic Eye.

From Caryn:

Nothing could have prepared me for being diagnosed with a rare and deadly eye cancer in the middle of trying to save the Kansas land where my husband and I live. From the 2019 diagnosis through the pandemic, I entered into both a risky plan to buy our fifth-generation farm and daunting treatment to survive the large tumor in my right eye. The Magic Eye tells the story of saving a life (my own) and a place, a 130-acre farm we had been actively turning into a wildlife refuge for three decades.

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is the 2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate, a writer, teacher, and facilitator, and coach and consultant who explores how the spoken, written and sung word can help us live more vibrant lives.

Please join us for a reading by Minneapolis poets Karen Sandberg and Pat Barone. Karen will be reading from her new book of poetry, Dreams of the Floating House. She writes poems of growing up beside Lake Superior and recovering from too many deaths.

From Karen Herseth Wee, author of The Book of Hearts:

Dreams of the Floating House is a waltz in summer time, holding the breath of the world. It invites one to join the poet's life-journey of search, becoming, and overcoming. "Days float past like clouds," days (and poems) of water, wind, darkness, loss, trees, and butterflies. The sun always comes out.

Karen Sandberg lives and writes in Richfield, Mn. This book contains her brief account of one person’s journey through times of joy, sorrow and amazement. She studied at The Loft in Minneapolis, attended Northwoods Writers Conference in Bemidji, Mn twice, and since 1995, been a member of Northfield Women Poets. Karen has published in Midwest Quarterly, Clackamas Literary Review, Grey Sparrow, Vita Brevis, Main Street Rag and others.

On the first Friday of each month, a puzzling group of people gathers to do a jigsaw puzzle or two. Over the highs, lows, and drama of completing a puzzle, friendships and interesting conversation emerge from the woodwork. Puzzlers of all ages and skill levels are welcome.

From the MPLS Creatives' Support Group!

MPLS Creatives' Support Group is for creatives of all types to receive kind constructive criticism for their work. We'll help each other take the next step to getting our art into the world.

Artists of all skill levels are welcome to join in! Bring a project you've been working on!

Join Pat Arneson for a rousing discussion of hope and healing, Equine-Assisted Therapy, lies sabotage, and murder.

Pat Arneson is an author, a licensed clinical therapist, and a life-long book lover.

Tony Wentersdorf will read from his 2020 self-published memoir – Born in

the Year Zero. This memoir describes Tony’s boyhood in Germany, his

emigration to the U.S. at the age of nine, his life abroad in Paris, Zurich,

and Marburg (Germany), and his adult years in Minnesota. The memoir

also contains pictures, poems, and songs. He will intersperse the reading

with songs and poems.

Peter Ruddy is a fingerstyle guitarist who plays an eclectic mix of Celtic folk, swingy jazz, blues and much more on 6 and 12 strings.

On the first Friday of each month, a puzzling group of people gathers to do a jigsaw puzzle or two. Over the highs, lows, and drama of completing a puzzle, friendships and interesting conversation emerge from the woodwork. Puzzlers of all ages and skill levels are welcome.

Check out the music of local bands Jumbles and Anything You Want!

Started as a solo project, 'Jumbles' is a three piece progressive-folk rock band that writes deeply personal music. With a wide range of influences including classical and jazz, many songs take on a free-from approach, oftentimes unfolding in a linear fashion rather than repeating. As a band, they have evolved to play in both loud and quiet settings, emphasizing different aspects of their music."

Bandcamp: www.jumbles.bandcamp.com

Instagram: @jumbles_makes_music

Please join us for a reading from The Penultima by Elaine Klaassen. From the author:

“…La Penultima (With A Rose In Its Eye), [is] a pointillistic picture of my 80 years so far: swaddled in a Mennonite cradle, comforted by friendship with Bach, molded by a sojourn in Spain, pierced through with a passion for justice,  always longing and willing to walk through the mountains and the valleys of love. “

Elaine Klaassen has been writing for the Minneapolis community newspaper Southside Pride for many years. The more personal, particular lens through which she writes in La Penultima is that of a heartbroken human who wears the mantle of a heroic Mennonite upbringing; a semi-professional pianist who grappled with the perfectionism of classical music; someone blessed with a soulmate's brief companionship; a U.S. resident/citizen who lived in Spain during the '70s; and a poetic soul who is excessively curious about what other people do, say, think and feel. Her writer/editor friend Sara Taber (author of Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter) says Elaine's view is "passionate, thoughtful, kooky, open to this tumbling world, unsettling, vulnerable, practical, haphazard and zigzaggy, full of despair, wonder, resignation and beauty—a crazy quilt."

Please join us for the annual release of Minnesota literary journal, Whistling Shade. We’ll be hearing readings from local authors and poets Carol Rucks, Mark Rhoads, and Janna Knittel.

Carol Rucks has been published in West Branch, Muse, Poetry Quarterly, Whistling Shade, San Pedro River Review, and elsewhere. She is the author of the poetry collection Evidence of Rain, published by Nodin Press, and Wavelength, published by Kelsay Books. She lives in Minneapolis.

Mark Rhoads recently retired from Bethel University where he taught in the music department for 35 years. His poems have been published in The Christian Science Monitor, The Deronda Review, Contemporary Rhyme, Snakeskin, Plainsongs, Ballard Street Poetry Journal, and Whistling Shade. In 2015 he published a collection of poems titled No Gathering In of This Incense.

Janna Knittel is the author of Real Work (Nodin, 2022), a finalist for the 2023 Minnesota Book Award in poetry, and the chapbook Fish & Wild Life (Finishing Line, 2018). Janna still calls the Pacific Northwest "home" despite living in Minnesota since 2004.

Please join us to celebrate Poetry Month and hear a reading from Donna Isaac’s new book, In the Tilling:

In the Tilling revels in the bounties of earth and sea, the culinary arts, past and present living. Isaac transports her readers into realms of childhood, landscapes north and south, reflecting on family, food, and modern challenges. Remembering, musing, and, at times, amusing, the writer has crafted a contemplative collection rich with imagery and lyricism.

Donna will be joined by Minnesota poets, Amanda Bailey, Rosetta Peters, and Margaret Hasse.

Donna Isaac is a teaching artist and poet who works through the League of MN Poets to spread literary joy in the Twin Cities. She is a retired teacher, and her published work includes Footfalls (Pocahontas Press); Tommy (Red Dragonfly Press); Holy Comforter (Red Bird Chapbooks); Persistence of Vision (Finishing Line Press) and In the Tilling (Finishing Line Press). Find more on donnaisaacpoet.com

Amanda Bailey writes poetry, stories and memoir, exploring her Southern and U.S. roots. Her work has appeared in various journals, on the Mankato Poetry Walk and Ride, and in the anthologies Upon Waking: 58 Voices Speak Out from the Shadows of Abuse); After the Equinox Agates and Reverencing Earth.  In 2020, she received a National Blackberry Peach Poetry Prize for written and spoken word, performances available on YouTube., and since 2022, she has served as president of the League of Minnesota Poets. 

Rosetta Peters is a Dakota poet, an author, a public speaker, and an activist. A Crow Creek and Yankton descent, she is a procrastinator to the point of detriment and a lover of the natural world. 

Margaret Hasse, longtime poet-teacher, has written nine books of poetry, including her latest in 2024, Belongings: New and Selected Poems. Her life in poetry is sustained by other poets; honors, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Loft McKnight, and the Minnesota State Arts Board; and her community.

Join us for a poetry reading, Q & A, and Haiku workshop with 2024 Moonbeam Award Silver Medalist Sandra Hisakuni. She will be reading from her illustrated work of haiku, and guiding attendees in learning the art form. Writing materials will be complimentary!

The Northland Beckons guides readers through a day in the beautiful Boundary Waters of Minnesota and Canada, meeting wildlife along the way. For those who are familiar with the Northlands canoe country, it is a reminder to come home to our shared wilderness.

Sandra Hisakuni is an English Language teacher who has taught in Japan, China, and the United States. She enjoys spending time in the wilderness and with her son and daughter. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Sofia Hisakuni has always had a passion for expressing her creativity through art, drawing, and design. She currently works in marketing, enjoys spending time outdoors, and visiting her mom. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

On the first Friday of each month, a puzzling group of people gathers to do a jigsaw puzzle or two. Over the highs, lows, and drama of completing a puzzle, friendships and interesting conversation emerge from the woodwork. Puzzlers of all ages and skill levels are welcome.

From the MPLS Creatives' Support Group!

MPLS Creatives' Support Group is for creatives of all types to receive kind constructive criticism for their work. We'll help each other take the next step to getting our art into the world.

Artists of all skill levels are welcome to join in! Bring a project you've been working on!

Help us celebrate National Poetry Month with poets from our local haiku community!

Our readers will be: Sangita Kalarickal, Caroline Giles Banks, Kenne Thomas, Wendy Hauser Blomseth and Marjorie Buettner.

Stick around for a guitar performance by Gary Lee Joyner.

Join us for a reading and signing of Ron de Beaulieu’s latest book, Minnesota's Most Notorious Mobster: The Making and Breaking of Kid Cann.

Isadore Blumenfeld aka Kid Cann came to Minnesota as a toddler when his family emigrated from Romania. In Prohibition-era Minneapolis, a city of vast wealth inequality and vicious antisemitism, young Isadore rose from impoverished newsboy to millionaire. Kid Cann's ruthless determination, his own growing familial crime network and a willingness to commit wanton violence ignited his meteoric ascent. He got away with innumerable crimes over four decades before a series of relatively minor offenses brought him down. Although ravaged by stress and stripped of his social stature, the infamous gangster had earned a place in the folklore of Minnesota. Historian Ron de Beaulieu recounts the saga of the state's most notorious crime boss.

Ron has lived in Minnesota for nearly two decades. She went to Macalester College in St. Paul and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities for a master's degree in history and a doctoral degree in sociology. She is also the author of Minneapolis Murder & Mayhem and St. Paul Murder & Mayhem. When she isn't reading and writing about history, Ron travels around the state with her family.

You can follow her at @rondebeaulieu.bsky.social.

Letterpress Book Exhibit

A collection of rare letterpress books will be on display to the public at Eat My Words bookstore. This collection, largely produced by Yolla Bolly Press, includes letterpress and woodcut illustrated books as well as prospectuses. We welcome you to an open house viewing event and a short reading from the collection by Jacqueline White, daughter of the curators.

Available for purchase. Contact eatmywordsbooks@gmail.com for enquiries.

On the first Friday of each month, a puzzling group of people gathers to do a jigsaw puzzle or two. Over the highs, lows, and drama of completing a puzzle, friendships and interesting conversation emerge from the woodwork. Puzzlers of all ages and skill levels are welcome.

From the MPLS Creatives' Support Group!

MPLS Creatives' Support Group is for creatives of all types to receive kind constructive criticism for their work. We'll help each other take the next step to getting our art into the world.

Artists of all skill levels are welcome to join in! Bring a project you've been working on!

Please join us as local author C.M. Alongi reads from her latest novel, The Witch Who Trades With Death.

The Witch Who Trades With Death is a bewitching fantasy where a young witch is forced to play concubine for her empirical captor, and finally breaks free to find a life of her own. But even those with the power to call Death cannot outrun their past...

C.M. Alongi is a sci-fi/fantasy author and content creator from the Twin Cities. She is best known for her urban fantasy TikTok series CaFae Latte .

Please join us for the dulcet tones of local musicians Nick Bhalla and Embahn.

Nick's solo piano music has an open, spacey sound that leaves room for listeners to disappear into introspective ruminations and hopes for the future.

Nick’s newest album Empire (April 2024) is a spacious suite of explorations for solo piano, with plenty of room for improvisation & surprising twists of harmony.

Embahn is the solo-project of Emily Steuer. Steuer is an alternative folk singer-songwriter based in Minneapolis, MN. She is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band Embahn.

Steuer’s recorded work showcases her love for layering harmonies and multiple instrumental arrangements in order to convey familiar feelings that only the listener knows. Steuer’s music is inspired by the natural wonders and metaphysical elements of and not of this world.

On the first Friday of each month, a puzzling group of people gathers to do a jigsaw puzzle or two. Over the highs, lows, and drama of completing a puzzle, friendships and interesting conversation emerge from the woodwork. Puzzlers of all ages and skill levels are welcome.

Please join us for an afternoon with the multi-talented Zaq Baker as he accompanies a reading from his first book Unspectacular with a piano performance.

About Unspectacular:

Mae Strand, twenty, is a compulsive liar and budding but reluctant Chicago vocalist whose mother's mysterious prior life is starting to loom dangerously large over her own. Coerced into recording a studio album by entertainment lawyer Robert Koenid, Mae is forced to choose between a small shot at fame or music's intrinsic value, all while she crests adulthood with her independence at stake. 

A few blocks away, Ajay Chadhana is offered a rare opportunity: Skip a step in the software career he's been building since he decamped from the cricket pitches of Eastern India to Illinois... at the cost of severely hardening his heart. As he races toward thirty, Ajay must draw a line between the advantages of corporate life and his harried nights as a session drummer - a crisis of ambition and self-care.

Zaq Baker is a songwriter, pianist, keyboardist, vocalist, co-arranger, director, performer, recording artist, and occasionally published essayist. Among other 2024 accolades, Zaq Baker’s original music is featured in new film How to Break a World Record (Apple TV, Amazon Prime); and this summer he shared the keynote speaking and performing role at Youth Mental Health Day, a nonprofit conference with 730 attendees. In addition to albums, singles, music videos, and performances under his own name, Zaq plays in ten bands in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His prose has been published twice in accredited magazines. Unspectacular is his first novel.

From the MPLS Creatives' Support Group!

MPLS Creatives' Support Group is for creatives of all types to receive kind constructive criticism for their work. We'll help each other take the next step to getting our art into the world.

Join Wendy Brown-Baez to write poems expressing love in all forms: love of place, pets, beloveds, or the world, followed by a reading from Threading the Gold and new poems. 

The cost of the workshop is to purchase any book from the store before the workshop starts. 

Wendy Brown-Baez is the author of the poetry collections Threading the Gold and Ceremonies of the Spirit, and her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies such as Water~Stone Review, Talking Writing, and The Power of the Feminine. She has facilitated writing workshops in community spaces for over 20 years and is the executive editor of Saint Paul Almanac.

Threading the Gold is a collection of poems written as artist-in-residence at Westminster Presbyterian Church. They explore how we can be both contemplatives and social justice activists. What is our responsibility to our neighbors, when those neighbors are in a country across the globe? How do we experience sorrow and exultation along our journey to healing? "Sensitive and moving poems."--Fern Phillips