If you are an author, musician, thinker, or interested in hosting an event of some kind, please email us.
Please join us for a reading from Terry Folz's new poetry chapbook titled There Is No Moon. The event will be introduced by local author Tom Cassidy.
Please join us for a reading from a collective of Minnesota poets led by D. E. Green.
The Poets of the Northfield Public Library are Becky Boling, Heather Candels, D. E. Green, Steve McCown, and Julie Ryan. Their new anthology, in the "Up on the Big Rock Series" at Shipwreckt Books (2024), is We Look West.
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.
"Ashes, Ashes, set in northern Minnesota, explores the relationship between two foster brothers who reunite following the death of their foster mother. When the younger brother claims that the local police covered up her murder, the older brother sets out to discover the truth and bring the killer to justice."
Please join us as author Fredrick Soukup reads from his recently released novel Ashes, Ashes.
Fredrick Soukup’s works include Bliss (2020) and Blood Up North (2022). He’s been named an IPPY Bronze Medalist, a semifinalist for the American Short Fiction Prize, and a finalist for both the Erik Hoffer Book Award and the Minnesota Book Award. Blood Up North won the NYC Big Book Award for Literary Fiction and Ashes, Ashes was longlisted for the Petrichor Prize. He lives in Saint Paul with his brilliant wife, Ashley, and daughters/muses, Clare and Nora.
Come visit us during the Art-A-Whirl celebrations! We’ll have discounted art related books out front.
Joining us will be the arts and crafts of Land Dweller Art and Gnarled by Nature.
Please join us as we usher in the latest release from local author Sigrid Brown.
Seventeen-year-old Annika Rose and her father Wes have spent the years since the death of Annika’s mother in self-imposed social isolation on their farm on the edge of the woods. When a young woman named Tina moves into a house down the road, the result is a sudden explosion of feelings in both father and daughter and a fierce rivalry. At stake in the competition is not only their relationship, but the life of the vulnerable young woman at the center of it all.
Raised in Lake of the Woods County in northern Minnesota, Cheri Johnson has won grants and residencies from organizations such as the McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation, Yaddo, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She studied writing at the University of Minnesota, Hollins University, and Augsburg University. Her chapbook of poems, Fun & Games, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2009 and she’s written two series of nonfiction books for young readers for Full Tilt Press. Crocus Hill: A Ghost Story, a literary performance project she created with the composer Julie Johnson, the filmmaker D.J. Mendel, and the new-music ensemble Zeitgeist, was supported by the Knight Foundation. She’s published fiction and other work in magazines such as Pleiades, Glimmer Train Stories, Puerto del Sol, and New South, and her novel The Girl in Duluth, which she published under the name Sigrid Brown, won a 2023 Midwest Book Award. Her novel Annika Rose won the 2022 Women’s Prose Prize from Red Hen Press and will be published in May 2024. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she critiques manuscripts as an editor at the Loft Literary Center and writes about books and the performing arts on Instagram @CheriJohnsonArt.
Join author Angie Mizzell for a reading and conversation with Kate Hopper (author of Ready for Air and Use Your Words). Angie and Kate will talk about Angie's recently-released memoir "Girl in the Spotlight". Audience Q & A and book signing to follow. Light refreshments will be served.
Angie Mizzell is a writer, a mom and a former TV journalist. She’s the author of “Hello Friday,” a weekly newsletter on Substack where she explores ways to feel at home where we live, in our relationships, in our work and within. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband and their three children.
"After undergoing a satisfying gender transition from female to male, the idea of having a biological child seemed far from Aarron Sholar’s thoughts. However, when he met the love of his life, he made the life-altering decision to pause his transition and embark on the journey to conceive a baby."
In The Body of a Frog: A Memoir on Self-Loathing, Self-Love, and Transgender Pregnancy, Sholar offers a raw, authentic account of his experiences. He navigates the complexities of his body, the transition journey, and the unexpected possibility of pregnancy with a heartfelt and introspective approach. This memoir explores the full spectrum of emotions, from the positive to the challenging, from the clear to the perplexing, shedding light on the intersections of self-identity, love, and the miracle of life.
Friday, April 5th, 7 pm
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.
Spend a night with other creative queers sharing recent works from poetry, short excerpts of essays, comics, and other forms of media. Open to anyone queer and ally!
Slots are 5 minutes. Masks are required. No drums or loud amplification.
How do you react when a prickly personality gets under your skin? Join author Allegra Birdseye-Hannula as she reads from her debut and award winning book, How to Talk to Porcupines: A Youth Worker’s Communication Field Guide. Through the course of the evening, you’ll hear stories, strategies and tools to help you interact with prickly personalities. Come ready to learn, laugh, and engage! You’ll leave with a new appreciation for porcupines.
Join us for the launch of Paula Cisewski’s new poetry collection, Ceremonies for No Repair. She will be joined by poets Feng Sun Chen, Sarah Fox, Bridget Mendel, and Elisabeth Workman as well as musician Stephanie Was.
In Ceremonies for No Repair, Paula Cisewski challenges us to examine our grief for the depths of our care. Set in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, this hybrid of poetry, prose, and images is a collage of personal and universal sorrows: a surprise divorce, an uprising, a mother’s death in quarantine. Less narrative than aggregate, it is a book about staying present and moving both with and through. It is an accrual of small moments and actions that, together, gesture toward hope.
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.
Come be a part of the Whistling Shade 2023-24 issue release and reading. The theme for this issue is "Love".
The reading will be 6:30-7:30 and feature poetry by Carol Rucks and Patrick Hansel, memoir by Kevin Stebner, and fiction by Tony Rauch.
Carol Rucks has been published in Abraxas, West Branch, San Pedro River Review, Colere, and in many other journals. She is the author of two full-length books of poetry, Evidence of Rain (Nodin Press), and Wavelength (Kelsay Books). A third collection is in the works. She lives in Minneapolis.
Patrick Cabello Hansel is the author of the poetry collections The Devouring Land (Main Street Rag Publishing), Quitting Time (Atmosphere Press) and Breathing in Minneapolis (Finishing Line Press). His website is: www.artecabellohansel.com.
Kevin Stebner is a senior engineering technician for a global technology corporation in the Twin Cities. He writes memoir and encourages others to "Trust your instincts and pursue your passions."
Tony Rauch has four books of short stories published - I'm right here (spout press), Laredo (Eraserhead Press), Eyeballs growing all over me . . . again (Eraserhead Press), and What if I got down on my knees? (Whistling Shade Press).
Bring the little ones to hear a reading from local children's author Marissa Bader. She will be reading from her books The Only Me and Stella's Brave Voice.
The Only Me: Is about a set of fraternal twins named Stella and Paige, and Stella’s quest to be seen as an individual. Though the girls are very different from one another, people constantly compare them or comment about how strange it is that they're not similar. This treatment continuously causes Stella to feel frustrated; she also wonders if she doesn't measure up to her sister, Paige. With the help of their big brother, Robby, Stella starts to remember all the things she excels at, and what makes her special and unique. The overarching themes and lessons are building confidence, embracing differences, and acceptance of ourselves and others.
Stella's Brave Voice: This is a follow-up to The Only Me and follows Stella as she learns to speak up for herself and use her strong, brave voice – even when it feels hard and scary and she worries she may hurt her sister’s feelings in the process. The themes of this book center around self-confidence, self-worth, communication, friend and sibling relationships, and empowerment.
Learn more about Marissa's books here!
Come join the celebration!
We'll have music, poetry, local art, special new commemorative merchandise, and of course... books!
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.
The Daily Norm is the solo project of Kae Layne, a guitarist from Connecticut, started in 2022. His fingerstyle technique is described as delicate, atmospheric, and thought-provoking. Inspired by the likes of Lindsay Buckingham, Paul McCartney and Bruce Cockburn, he takes what he learns and adds it to his style. His hope is that through his playing and his music, he can reach and connect with others.
"Little does Doctor Buzz know when he signs on as the Ringmaster and tour manager for the one-ring Res Terrestrial, Celestial and Nautical Circus that he will not only be taking a ragtag collection of misfits on a six-month trip from the headwaters of the Mississippi to New Orleans but that he he will be dealing with alcoholic camels, broken down boats, too many or not enough cooks and his own existential crisis..."
Loren Niemi is a Minnesota based poet, author and innovative storyteller whose work includes a 2020 Midwest Book Award winning short story collection, “What Haunts Us”, a 2022 poetic memoir “A Breviary for the Lost” and the just published, “Circus Rex” a novel of romance and catastrophe. He is the Founder of the American School of Storytelling and a recipient of a National Storytelling Network Lifetime Achievement award.
Patricia Barone lives along the Mississippi River in Minnesota and feels very lucky to have been a part of the thriving Twin Cities writing community for over four decades. With Future Rounds the Curve, Barone is publishing her sixth book.
Carol Rucks published her first collection of poetry, Evidence of Rain, which was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award, with Nodin Press in 2014. Her second poetry collection, Wavelength, was published this year by Kelsay Books.
Her poems have appeared in “Abraxas,” “Energy Review,” “Colere,” “West Branch,” “Dust and Fire,” “Blue Unicorn”, “Earth’s Daughters”, and elsewhere. She is actively involved with the Loft Literary Center and its classes, workshops, readings, and events. She was a finalist for the Loft Mentor Series. Her writing group includes the poets: June Blumenson, Shannon King, Sandra Sidman Larson, Mary Junge, and Kate Green.
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.
Music by A Sunken Ship Irony, The Daily Norm, and Lucas Kurmis.
In LOCKER ROOM TALK, we listen in on the epic and ordinary moments that happen when women are together. Subverting the traditional idea of “locker room talk,” this collection illuminates the conversations women share with family, friends, and strangers, whether at the sinks of a nightclub ladies’ room, on a bus heading to the Women’s March, or in the kitchen of an elder relative. Cumulatively, they reveal the myriad ways women care for themselves, each other, their communities, and our world. (Spout Press)
In AWAKENINGS: STORIES OF BODIES & CONSCIOUSNESS, a collection of 49 short, stunning essays by both seasoned and emerging authors explore the miracles, mishaps, and mysteries of the body, will make you laugh, cry, and come away with a deeper appreciation for the flesh and bones that carry us all through life. (ELJ Publications)
Come join us for a reading from Vince Wyckoff’s latest book Refuge From the Sea.
Vincent Wyckoff’s first book, Beware of Cat, is a celebration of the patrons on his postal route. In 2016 his first work of fiction, Black Otter Bay, was published, followed in 2018 by Nightwatchers, the second book in the series. In 2022 the third installment was released, entitled Refuge From the Sea. He has had several stories published in local presses as well as the anthology, Home.
Born and raised in Columbia Heights, Mr. Wyckoff lives in South Minneapolis with his wife, Sybil.
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 a reading from the release of Sally Vardaman’s first book, Shoot the Arrows.
Shoot the Arrows is a collection of essays about wisdom and how it’s won. In these love letters to her grown children, Sally Vardaman tackles emotionally complex life struggles such as overcoming neediness, facing addiction, and learning to tell the truth.
Sally Vardaman is a writer who believes in the power of stories to make us think, question our assumptions, and help us connect with each other despite our differences. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, she lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her three teenagers. You can find her occasional musings and projects at sallyvardaman.com.
Haley Lasché is the co-founder and co-editor of the poetry press Beauty School Editions and the founder editor and designer of the literary magazine Concision Poetry Journal. She teaches writing and literature courses at colleges and universities in and around St. Paul. She also has two poetry chapbooks: Where It Leads (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2016) and Blood and Survivor (Locofo Chaps, 2017), and her premier poetry collection, One, is due out in fall 2023.
Chelsea B. DesAutels is the author of A Dangerous Place (Sarabande Books, 2021), named a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Her work appears in Adroit Journal, Copper Nickel, Massachusetts Review, Missouri Review, Ninth Letter, Ploughshares, and elsewhere, and has been featured on The Slowdown podcast. Chelsea has received support from the Anderson Center at Tower View, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Inprint, and Tin House Summer Workshop. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.
Joshua Gottlieb-Miller received his PhD and MFA in Poetry from the University of Houston, where he also served as Poetry Editor and Digital Nonfiction Editor for Gulf Coast. Joshua has published poetry, essays, scholarship, hybrid, and multimedia writing, and been awarded fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Tent Writing Conference at the Yiddish Book Center, and elsewhere. Newer poetry appears in Brooklyn Rail, miCRo, Concision, and elsewhere. His debut collection, The Art of Bagging, won Conduit’s Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize, and his second book, Dybbuk Americana, is forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press. Joshua lives in Houston with his wife and son. http://www.joshuagottliebmiller.com/
From the indie band Pocket Vinyl and the artists behind the documentary Drive. Play. Sleep. and the popular webcomic The Touring Test, this hilarious artists’ graphic novel memoir chronicles a couple’s road trip across the USA as they break a world record.
A world record smashing music tour through 50 States in 45 Days. Together, Eric Stevenson and Elizabeth Jancewicz perform as the band Pocket Vinyl, where Eric slams on the piano and sings while Elizabeth creates a large oil painting on stage. In these artists’ graphic novel, watch as they take on their biggest challenge yet: to tour the whole nation in just 45 days, breaking the record for the fastest time a band has played in all 50 U.S. states.
A wild road trip of performance highs, self-doubt lows, and determination. As co-author Elizabeth Janceqicz says, “I knew that embarking on such a monstrous adventure would provide me with stories to tell, but I hadn't realized how much those stories would change me... In retrospect, we learned so much: about how our art helps people, how interconnected we all are, and how easily our minds can descend into mental illness without us even realizing it’s happening.”
Inside How to Completely Lose Your Mind, you’ll find:
A breakneck road trip through the local music scenes across America
An unforgettable story of what life is like behind the scenes on an indie band’s record-breaking tour
A graphic novel on mental health, humor, the love of music and art, and the gifts of human kindness
Please join us for a poetry reading from Maya Jewell-Zeller.
Maya Jewell-Zeller is the author of the forthcoming out takes/ glove box, chosen by Eduardo Corral as winner of the New American Poetry Prize; as well as the interdisciplinary collaboration (with visual artist Carrie DeBacker) Alchemy For Cells & Other Beasts (Entre Rios Books, 2017); the chapbook Yesterday, the Bees (Floating Bridge Press, 2015); and the poetry collection Rust Fish (Lost Horse Press, 2011). She is co-editor, with Sharma Shields, of the anthology Evergreen: Grim Tales and Fables from the Gloomy Northwest (Scablands Books, 2021). Maya's prose appears in The Rumpus, Diagram, Brevity, Bellingham Review, Booth Journal, and elsewhere.
Join us for a reading by Lee Henschel Jr. from his most recent book The Beggar's Coin: Short Stories of Vietnam & the epic poem, The 'Nam.
From the author:
These stories are the flash bulb vision of a moment in time, and provide counterpoint to my ongoing poem of Vietnam, "the 'Nam." For "the 'Nam" came into being only after fifty years of reflection, and is the distilled essence of memory, measured out in a different key.
Join us as J. P. White reads from an award-winning new book of poems called A Tree Becomes a Room.
J.P. White has published essays, fiction, reviews, interviews and poetry in hundreds of places including The Nation, The New Republic, The Gettysburg Review, Agni Review and Poetry. He is the author of the novel, Every Boat Turns South and The Last Tale of Norah Bow, forthcoming in 2024. His 6th book of poems, A Tree Becomes a Room, was the recent winner of the White Pine Poetry Prize and is forthcoming from White Pine Press in September, 2023. He is the editor-at-large for Plant-Human Quarterly.
Please join us for an evening of improvised music, poetry, and haikus.
Maja Radovanlija will lead a series of acoustic music rooted in classical music, Northern Indian classical music, and contemporary music.
The musicians are Matt Rahaim (voice/electronics/), Molly Sturges (conducted improv./voice), Sivan Ellias Cohen (composer/el.-acoustic improv.), Mike Duffy (composer/electronics), Joey Crane (composer/cello), and May (objects/flute/tea set).
Please join us for a book launch to celebrate the release of Gen Del Raye's debut book, Boundless Deep, and Other Stories, in conversation with poet Sun Yung Shin.
Gen Del Raye is half Japanese and was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. His writing has appeared in the Gettysburg Review, Poetry Northwest, The Best Small Fictions 2017, and Best New Poets 2019. He is the recipient of a 2023 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship and 2023 McKnight Artist Fellowship.
Winner of the Raz/Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction, Boundless Deep, and Other Stories is a portrait of a family that holds together despite everything. By turns introspective, surreal, and bitingly funny, this collection of linked short stories spans seven decades across Japan and the United States and shows the tenacity of relationships fractured by language and distance.
Sun Yung Shin is a multi-genre author or editor of nine books, most recently The Wet Hex, which won the Midland Authors Society Award for Poetry and was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. She lives in Minneapolis where she currently teaches with the Loft Literary Center and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, more at sunyungshin.com
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.
Tumbled Left is a short movie celebrating nuisance, acquaintance, and talking to the love of your life. Scored live by the Tumbled Left Trio, the film takes place somewhere real and imaginary all at once.
