Minnesota Humanities Center

Minneapolis - Celebrate the Diversity of Latinx Language, Poetry, and Culture with Palabristas
2022-09-01 18:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | El Colegio High School, 4137 Bloomington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55407, United States
Minnesota is home to over 345,000 people of Latino/a/e/x descent – the fastest growing cultural community in the state. We often refer to all communities originating from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean countries as ‘Latin,’ without realizing the great diversity in culture, language, traditions and social customs in each one of these communities: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Ecuadorian, Cuban, Colombian, Chilean, and others.
Build your cultural awareness as we learn about celebrate the diversity of Latino/a/e/x language, poetry, and culture with members of Palabristas – a community spoken word Latinx-Minnesotan collective. Activities will include poetry and spoken word performances, conversation and food sharing, and a creative writing activity. This event will be hosted at El Colegio – a Chicano-Latino South Minneapolis High School.
Registration
This event is open to anyone from middle school age through adult.
While there is no cost to attend, registration is requested.
Space is limited to 50 participants.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Shoua and the Northern Lights Dragon: Musical Performance and Discussion
2022-09-25 13:30 - 15:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a brand-new musical performance by Chione Quintet based on Twin Cities author Ka Vang’s Shoua and the Northern Lights Dragon. This short chapter book, published by the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans (CAPM) and the Minnesota Humanities Center in 2012, tells the story of Shoua, a Hmong American girl who discovers her voice as she saves an injured dragon while camping in the north woods of Minnesota. Hear this story set to beautiful and evocative music composed by fellow Minnesotan, Jocelyn Hagen, with narration by Ka Vang. Chione Quintet combines musical character themes with American Sign Language and will share the stories of each of their instruments and the ensemble they create–the wind quintet!
Hear from Sia Her, Executive Director of CAPM, about the project that led to the publication of this wonderful book and five others – The Reading Together Book Project, which addresses the importance of children’s books that speak to the rich and diverse cultural identities reflected in the U.S. You will also hear from author Ka Vang about the significance and impact the book and performance have had on her.
Children of all ages are welcome! There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Refreshments from a local Asian market will be served.
Chione [kiōn] is a Twin Cities-based woodwind quintet comprised of innovative and cross-disciplinary women. The unique and evolving medium provides an outlet to explore and create new sounds while redefining and rediscovering lesser-known music. Chione is committed to collaborating with professionals of all genres and creative outlets, with particular interests in commissioning new pieces and performing works by women artists. Throughout each endeavor, Chione aims to reach a wide range of audiences with the hopes of inspiring contemporary and aspiring artists as well as supporters of the arts.
Registration
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Series: After Effects: A Memoir of Complicated Grief
2022-09-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center welcomes the next author in our Minnesota Writers Series, Andrea Gilats, who will be reading from her book, “After Effects: A Memoir of Complicated Grief.” In addition to talking about her own experience with grief following the death of her husband, Gilats will also discuss how the process of writing helped with her own healing and understanding. Following the reading, the author will be joined by Dr. Ben Trappey, co-director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Art of Medicine (CFAM), for a discussion on complicated grief and the healing benefits of writing, both physical and emotional.
Registration
While this program is free and open to all with registration, part of the CFAM’s mission is to cultivate creativity, curiosity and empathy in physicians and physicians-in-training through the arts and humanities. Medical professionals in attendance will have the opportunity to discuss their own complicated relationships with grief, perhaps intensified during our pandemic-ravaged world of loss and isolation.
A reception with heavy appetizers will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the talk from 6:30-8 p.m.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

POSTPONED - Mankato - Poetry in the Parks
2022-10-01 10:00 - 16:00 | Blue Earth County Library, 100 East Main Street, Mankato, MN, 56001, United States
What does nature mean to you? Students in grades 5-8 are invited to join Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Westerman and fellow poet Michael Torres* for a daylong writing workshop at Minnesota State Parks. Alongside the poets, students will explore the beauty of nature and write their own poems. Students will receive instruction and encouragement to write in their home languages as well as English.
Each workshop will run from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and has space for 20 students in grades 5 – 8 (academic year 2022-23). Pens and notebooks will be provided, and students will be given prompts in advance. Refreshments will include morning and afternoon snacks and lunch.
Bus transportation will be provided from Blue Earth County Library to Minneopa State Park.
*At select locations

POSTPONED - Austin - Poetry in the Parks
2022-10-15 10:00 - 16:00 | Austin Public Library, 323 4th Avenue Northeast, Austin, MN, 55912, United States
What does nature mean to you? Students in grades 5-8 are invited to join Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Westerman and fellow poet Michael Torres* for a daylong writing workshop at Minnesota State Parks. Alongside the poets, students will explore the beauty of nature and write their own poems. Students will receive instruction and encouragement to write in their home languages as well as English.
Each workshop will run from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and has space for 20 students in grades 5 – 8 (academic year 2022-23). Pens and notebooks will be provided, and students will be given prompts in advance. Refreshments will include morning and afternoon snacks and lunch.
Bus transportation will be provided from Austin Public Library to Myre Big Island State Park.
*At select locations

POSTPONED - Worthington - Poetry in the Parks
2022-10-29 10:00 - 16:00 | Nobles County Library, 407 12th Street, Worthington, MN, 56187, United States
Poetry in the Parks has been postponed. Please check back for updated offerings.
What does nature mean to you? Students in grades 5-8 are invited to join Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Westerman and fellow poet Michael Torres* for a daylong writing workshop at Minnesota State Parks. Alongside the poets, students will explore the beauty of nature and write their own poems. Students will receive instruction and encouragement to write in their home languages as well as English.
Each workshop will run from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and has space for 20 students in grades 5 – 8 (academic year 2022-23). Pens and notebooks will be provided, and students will be given prompts in advance. Refreshments will include morning and afternoon snacks and lunch.
Bus transportation will be provided from Nobles County Library to Blue Mound State Park.
*At select locations

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Series: The Latitude of a Mercy
2022-12-10 14:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Poet Stefan Lovasik is the next featured author in our new Minnesota Writers Series. Lovasik, a Viet Nam combat veteran, has published three poetry collections. His most recent, The Latitude of a Mercy, was published by New York Quarterly Books. His work has appeared in national magazines such as American Literary Review, Consequence and New York Quarterly. He is a facilitator for Warrior Writers-Twin Cities and a staff editor for Pedestal Magazine. Lovasik’s work brings into striking focus the landscape of war; the lasting physical, moral and psychological consequences of it; and the resilience of the human spirit. He will discuss his latest collection, the power of writing as a tool for healing, and his work on his upcoming memoir. Introducing the poet and doing her own reading will be fellow Veteran Chante Wolfe, who is part of a Warriors Writers group with Lovasik.
Co-sponsored by Veterans For Peace.
Registration
This event is free, but registration is required.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Series: The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself Book Launch
2023-02-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us in celebrating the release of David Mura’s new book, “The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives”, released in January of 2023 by University of Minnesota Press. Following a reading of selections from the new book, Mura will be joined by best-selling author and President of Innocent Technologies Alexs Pate for a discussion on the issues of race, history and education. A book signing will follow the talk. Part of the Minnesota Writers Series. Co-sponsored by University of Minnesota Press.
About the book: From the country’s founding through the summer of Black Lives Matter in 2020, Mura’s new book unmasks how white stories about race attempt to erase the brutality of the past and underpin systemic racism in the present. Mura shows how deeply we need to change our racial narratives to dissolve the myth of Whiteness and fully acknowledge the experiences of Black Americans. Poet Douglas Kearney has said of Mura’s new book that it “offers what so many Americans claim they want: a rigorous education in perceiving themselves stripped of their dearest myths.”
About the author: David Mura is a poet, writer of creative nonfiction and fiction, critic, and playwright. He is author of “A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing” and the memoirs “Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei” and “Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality, and Identity”. He is coeditor, with Carolyn Holbrook, of “We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World” (2021). He lives in Minneapolis.
Registration
This event is free, but registration is required.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Remembering - A Black Writers' Retreat
2023-03-25 09:00 - 15:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Since the pandemic overwhelmed the world, we have become saddled with grief, fear, and disillusionment stirred up by continuous violence, strife, and misunderstanding. Everywhere we turn, we are striving to counter despair with joyous living. This retreat will center around remembering as an act of joy that provides opportunities for healing and recovery in ways that forgetting does not.
To make the writing process accessible and enjoyable, Pamela Fletcher Bush (writer, creative writing teacher, editor, CEO & Publisher of Saint Paul Almanac) and Ebony Aya (founder of the Aya Collective, a space that centers the expertise and experience of Black women, and program manager at the Jan Serie Center for Scholarship and Teaching at Macalester College) will lead workshop participants in guided writing exercises and discussion on a journey of Remembering.
Special Minnesota guest author Michael Kleber-Diggs will share how using one’s unique voice sets the writer and reader on a journey of discovery.
This full-day writing retreat is being offered by In Black Ink in collaboration with the Minnesota Humanities Center. It is open to all members of the Black community, writers at all levels and nonwriters alike. Registration is limited to 40 participants.
Continental breakfast and lunch are included. A journal will be provided.
Registration
You are welcome to register using promo code COMMUNITY to waive the fee if you wish.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Series: Wild Things
2023-03-31 19:00 - 21:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us on Trans Day of Visibility for a conversation with author Lynette Reini-Grandell, author of “Wild Things: A Trans Glam Punk Rock Love Story,” in a deeply personal conversation with her trans spouse, Venus de Mars. The two will discuss the themes and stories in the book, which follows the two through the art, literary, and indie rock worlds of Minneapolis and New York in the 1990s and early 2000s as they learn, change, and grow together, navigating the transition, the communities they found, and the hostility they faced. Part of the Minnesota Writers Series. Sponsored by RECLAIM, whose mission is to increase access to mental health care so queer and trans youth may reclaim their lives from oppression in all its forms.
About the Author
Lynette Reini-Grandell is the author of “Wild Verge” (Holy Cow! Press, 2018), “Approaching the Gate” (Holy Cow! Press, 2014), and the forthcoming memoir, “Wild Things: A Trans Glam Punk Rock Love Story” (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2023). Other work has appeared in Alligator Juniper, The Understanding between Foxes and Light, Poetry Motel, Revolver, Poetry City U.S.A., and Seminary Ridge Review, among others. She has been nominated for a Pushcart and received grants for her work from the Finlandia Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board. She performs with the Bosso Poetry Company and the jazz/poetry collective Sonoglyph. Her work is often inspired by Finnish folk culture and song, and she frequently collaborates with Nordic Roots artists in multimedia performances. She lives in Minneapolis on the ancestral homeland of the Dakota people.
Registration
If cost is a barrier, please contact Jessica Rust at jessica@mnhum.org before registering.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Poetry Sparks!
2023-04-21 15:00 - 18:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
In celebration of National Poetry Month, join Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Westerman, at a poetry gathering just for poets. Hear about Gwen’s vision for poetry across the state, get connected to other poets, and let your creativity loose with some writing time. Stay after for a casual group meal, and we’ll send you home feeling inspired, centered, and reinvigorated. We’ll provide the pens and the paper – bring yourself and come Spark! poetry connection and creativity with us!
3:00 p.m. Event start
6:00 p.m. Event close/Dinner served
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. Dinner after the event will be provided. Please note that this event is for poets only.
COVID-19 Policy: to help keep our artists safe, all audience members are required to be masked inside the venue during the event regardless of vaccination status. Masks will not be required after the event while dinner is being served.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
Registration for this event has closed.
Want to know more about Minnesota’s Poet Laureate?
Learn more about Gwen Nell Westerman and the history of Minnesota’s Poet Laureate.

Learn More

St. Paul - Children's Book Week Celebration
2023-05-06 12:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Children’s literature is one of the first ways in which storytelling makes an impact in young humans’ lives, teaching them about the world they live in and the power of their own imagination, and celebrating what makes us all both similar and unique. Join the Minnesota Humanities Center for a celebration on the lawn honoring Children’s Book Week, with guest author readings, book art workshops, story walks, games, crafts, book sales, food trucks, and special giveaways. Authors and book illustrators joining include Diane Wilson, Sun Yung Shin 신 선 영, Shannon Gibney, John Coy, Marian Hassan, Magdalena Mora, Remona Htoo, and Dr. Artika Tyner. ARTrageous will also be setting up a Creation Station for kids and kids at heart to make their own bookmarks, and Babycakes Book Stack bus will also be on site selling books. In partnership with Diverse Reads and AMPACT.
Story Time Schedule
12:00 p.m. – My Daddy Tells Me with Thuba Nguyen
12:30 p.m. – Somali folktales with Marian Hassan
1:00 p.m. – Magdalena Mora
1:30 p.m. – My Little Legs with Remona Htoo
2:00 p.m. – Where We Come From with John Coy, Shannon Gibney, Sun Yung Shin, and Diane Wilson
2:30 p.m. – Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight with Shannon Gibney
3:00 p.m. – Joey and Grandpa Johnson’s Day in Rondo with Dr. Artika Tyner
Registration
Registration is appreciated but not required for this event.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Duluth - Minnesota Writers Series: The Sky Watched
2023-07-12 17:30 - 19:30 | American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO), 202 West 2nd Street, Duluth, MN, 55802, United States
Author and poet Linda LeGarde Grover will be joining the Minnesota Writers Series for a special event in Duluth. In addition to reading selections from her recently re-released collection, The Sky Watched: Poems of Ojibwe Lives (University of Minnesota Press, 2022), Grover will also join in conversation with Dr. Jill M. Doerfler, head of American Indian Studies at University of Minnesota-Duluth, about the joys and complexities of leading a life devoted to writing and poetry, and the ways in which poetry has connected her further to her Native culture. In celebration of poets at all stages of their writing journey, during the second half of the event, members of the audience will be invited to share their own poetry as time allows. Co-sponsored by the American Indian Community Housing Organization, also the host site for this event.
About the book: The Sky Watched is a collective memoir in poetry of an Ojibwe family and tribal community, from creation myth to this day, updated with new poems. The collection gives poetic voice, in English and Ojibwe, those assembled here—voices of history, of memory and experience, of children and elders, Indian boarding school students, tribal storytellers, and the Manidoog, the unseen beings who surround our lives—come together to create a collective memoir in poetry as expansive and particular as the starry sky.
About the author: Linda LeGarde Grover is professor emerita of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her books The Road Back to Sweetgrass, Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year, In the Night of Memory, and Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong, all from Minnesota, have earned numerous awards, including the Native Writers Circle of the Americas First Book Award; Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards for poetry, memoir, and fiction; and a Minnesota Book Award for memoir and creative nonfiction. Her book of stories The Dance Boots received the Flannery O’Connor Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.
About the moderator: Jill Doerfler is a professor and department head of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her primary area of scholarly interest is American Indian identity with a focus on Anishinaabe citizenship.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Series: Rose McGee Children's Book Release
2023-08-05 13:00 - 15:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Minnesota Humanities Center, in partnership with Minnesota Historical Society Press, is pleased to host the launch of Rose McGee’s new children’s book, “Can’t Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama!” The author and the book’s illustrator, Christopheraaron Deanes, will read from the book and participate in a moderated discussion around themes related to food and family. Freddie Bell, KMOJ radio personality and Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee, will moderate the discussion. The author and illustrator will be available for a book signing and discussion at a reception following the event. Books will be available for purchase from Black Garnet Books. Part of the Minnesota Writers Series.
About the Book
In Rose McGee’s charming picture book (3-7 age range), young Marie and Landon think that their grandmother, “Mama,” makes the best sweet potato pies ever. The twins sometimes wonder if there might be some magic involved. Neighbors dealing with bad news or struggling with loss stop by for a slice. Sharing the pies—their sweet aroma, their familiar texture—in Mama’s warm home brings them comfort. The twins marvel at the neighbors’ transformation. Maybe, the twins realize, the magic isn’t in the pies. Maybe it’s in their mama.
About the Author and Illustrator
Rose McGee’s touching story expands on her own work building community and relationships through her “baketivism” as the leader of the nonprofit Sweet Potato Comfort Pie. She is a well-known facilitator, the playwright behind “Kumbayah: The Juneteenth Story,” one of Minnesota’s 50 Over 50, and a 2019 Bush Fellow. Her work has been featured in the national PBS documentary, “A Few Good Pie Places,” and in the TEDx Talk, “The Power of Pie.”
Christopheraaron Deanes is an artist and educator working to build creative equitable spaces that support and engage communities. As an artist, Christopheraaron is represented in local galleries and has created metal enamel sculptures as well as murals sited throughout the Twin Cities. As an educator, he works in the administration offices at Fridley Public Schools and with communities of color around Minneapolis and St. Paul. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Cara, and five amazing children.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - National Read a Book Day
2023-09-06 15:00 - 18:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
September 6 is National Read a Book Day. In celebration, we invite book lovers of all ages to the lawn of the Minnesota Humanities Center for a read-in gathering. Bring the book of your choice, a blanket or chair, and join in celebration by reading in community. Extra blankets and books will be available for those without. Story Walks will also be located around the grounds for wandering young readers. Can’t make it? Celebrate wherever you happen to be by taking time out of your day to read. The event is free and open to all to join at their leisure as time allows.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul - Poetry Encuentro: A Latine Poetry Gathering
2023-09-09 09:30 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
This poetry encuentro will bring together Latine community members to engage in storytelling based on Latine literary traditions. We want to recognize the complex and inspiring stories of Minnesota’s Latine community and their contribution to Minnesota’s diverse and vibrant cultural heritage. Focusing on poetry as creative expression, writers of all levels will produce, break bread, and perform together in a shared space. Join us for what will be a historic and memorable encuentro celebrating the written and spoken word!
This full-day gathering is being offered by Palabristas in collaboration with the Minnesota Humanities Center. Poetry Encuentro hosts/facilitators: Marion Gomez, Larry Lucio Jr., David Mendez, Teresa Ortiz, and Gabriela Spears-Rico.
Registration
This event is open to all Latine community members who want to write or who identify as writers. Registration is limited to 40 participants.
Continental breakfast and lunch are included.
You are welcome to register using promo code COMMUNITY to waive the fee if you wish.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
Register Now

St. Cloud - Minnesota Writers Series: Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX
2023-09-28 17:00 - 19:00 | St. Cloud City Hall, 1201 7th Street South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series welcomes Sheri Brenden, author of “Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX” in a conversation with her sister, Peg Brenden, one of the St. Cloud student athletes behind the groundbreaking 1972 federal court case that took on the unequal system of school athletics nationwide. The event will take place in the former high school gym, now converted into St. Cloud city council chambers. Mayor Dave Kleis will provide a welcome. Co-sponsored by the Minnesota Coalition of Women in Athletic Leadership and the Stearns County Museum. Registration is required for this in-person event.
Can’t make it to the St. Cloud event for Break Point? Join the Brenden sisters in Red Wing in November in conjunction with the Anderson Center at Tower View’s Books in the Barn series.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul - Our Ancestors Are Us: An Asian Adoptee Life Writing Workshop
2023-10-01 10:00 - 12:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
As part of the Minnesota Humanities Center’s writing and reflection offerings, we are excited to collaborate with Jennifer Kwon Dobbs to host Our Ancestors Are Us: An Asian Adoptee Life Writing Workshop, a project funded by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.
Adoption from Asia involves a child’s removal from their kinship of birth and oftentimes disconnection from their ancestral culture and ways of knowing. This interactive workshop creates a generative, adult adoptee-centered space in which to explore the unique ways that adoptee memory and experience can be empowering sources of creativity and literary witness. Participants will learn and share writing strategies to compose works of their own about their lives lived, unlived, and imagined otherwise as adoptees.
Lee Herrick – Special guest Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of three books of poems: Scar and Flower, finalist for the 2020 Northern California Book Award; Gardening Secrets of the Dead; and This Many Miles from Desire. Born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted as an infant, Lee teaches at Fresno City College and in the low-residency MFA program at University of Nevada Reno at Lake Tahoe.
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진 – Born in Wonju, Republic of Korea and adopted in Oklahoma, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진 is the author of Interrogation Room (White Pine Press, 2018), Paper Pavilion (White Pine, 2007), and the chapbooks Notes from a Missing Person (Essay Press, 2015) and Necro Citizens (hochroth Verlag, 2019). Her work has received the 2023 American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Lief and Inger Sjöberg Prize for literary translation among other honors. Currently, she is senior poetry editor of AGNI and professor and chair of English at St. Olaf College. www.jkwondobbs.com.
Registration
This event is open to all adult Asian diaspora adoptees who want to write or who identify as writers. Registration is limited to 40 participants.
Snacks are included, and a journal will be provided.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul - Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop
2023-10-06 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Are you a young person (13-19 years of age) who writes poetry or aspires to start writing poetry? Do you want to connect with other youth writers? Then join us for the Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, and former St. Paul Youth Poet Laureate Chavah Gabrielle. During this in-person session, you’ll have a chance to work with Gwen and Chavah to create a new piece of writing, or workshop a piece you’ve been developing. You’ll also get a chance to read aloud and practice performing some poetry. We hope that once you’ve perfected your piece, you’ll sign up for the Youth Voices Open Mic evening on November 4th. Grab a friend and pen some lines with the Laureates!
This event is free however registration is required; a light dinner will be provided; participants must 13-19 years of age*.
(We are also holding a virtual option on October 13, 2023 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. over Zoom – sign up for one or both!)
*Youth is ages 13-19 as defined by the National Youth Poet Laureate organization.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online - Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop
2023-10-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Are you a young person (13-19 years of age) who writes poetry or aspires to start writing poetry? Do you want to connect with other youth writers? Then join us for the Poetry Sparks! Youth Writing Workshop with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, and former St. Paul Youth Poet Laureate, Chavah Gabrielle. During this virtual session, you’ll have a chance to work with Gwen and Chavah to create a new piece of writing, or workshop a piece you’ve been developing. You’ll also get a chance to read aloud and practice performing some poetry. We hope that once you’ve perfected your piece, you’ll sign up for the Youth Voices Open Mic evening on November 4th. Grab a friend and pen some lines with the Laureates!
This event is free however registration is required; participants must 13-19 years of age*.
(We are also holding an in-person session on October 6, 2023 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Minnesota Humanities Center. Sign up for one or both!)
*Youth is ages 13-19 as defined by the National Youth Poet Laureate organization.

St. Paul - Veterans Voices Month Celebration
2023-10-21 17:30 - 19:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
October is Veterans Voices Month in Minnesota. Veterans and civilians are invited to gather at Minnesota Humanities Center for a dinner and poetry reading honoring the experiences of those serving the U.S. military from the margins, including women, immigrants, LGBTQ individuals, Black, and American Indian service members among others. This event will kick off the MHC’s upcoming NEH-funded series, “Examining Military Service From the Margins.” Following dinner and a sneak peek into MHC’s plans to diversify how we think of military history and service, U.S. Army Veteran poet Jessi M. Atherton, who served during Operation Iraqi Freedom, will read from her new collection, The Time War Takes. This free event is part of the Minnesota Writers Series and Many Fronts: Veteran and Community Voices initiatives.
SCHEDULE:
5:30-6:00 p.m. Opening Ceremony and Remarks
6:00 p.m. Dinner
6:30-7:30 p.m. Poetry reading and discussion
Registration
When registering, please note whether you plan to attend both the dinner and poetry reading, or just one or the other.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: Trauma Sponges
2023-12-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series welcomes Jeremy Norton, author of “Trauma Sponges: Dispatches from the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response” for a hybrid in-person and virtual event. Norton will use excerpts from his new book, published by University of Minnesota Press, to spark conversations with his co-panelists, Jeanelle Austin from the George Floyd Global Memorial, and attorney and police-reform activist Abigail Cerra. The three will explore topics ranging from racial inequality to mental health to toxic masculinity for a conversation titled, “Witness and Testify: Towards a More Just Community.”
The Minnesota Writers Series is thankful for partners doing similarly aligned work supporting a diversity of Minnesota voices, like our community partner for this event, the MN Black Authors Expo: Leading, promoting and showcasing MN Black Authors.
About the book:
In this remarkable memoir, Jeremy Norton marshals twenty-two years of professional experience to offer, with compassion and critique, an extraordinary portrayal of emergency responders. Trauma Sponges captures in arresting detail the personal and social toll the job exacts, as well as the unique perspective afforded by sustained direct encounters with the sick, the dying, and the dead.
“While many bear witness to injustice and decide that silence best serves their privilege, some use their privilege to dismantle the inequities that created the disparities in the first place. Jeremy Norton is the latter.”
—Dr. Michele Harper, author of The Beauty in Breaking
About the author:
Jeremy Norton has been a firefighter/EMT with the Minneapolis Fire Department since 2000; he was promoted to captain in 2007 and heads Station 17 in south Minneapolis. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he received a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree in creative writing from Boston University. After teaching high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Norton moved to Minneapolis, where he taught creative writing at the Loft Literary Center before joining the MFD.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: A Council of Dolls
2024-01-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series begins 2024 by welcoming Mona Susan Power, author of “A Council of Dolls” (Mariner Books, 2023). The acclaimed author will read excerpts from her recently published book, which will inspire conversation with the event moderator, Sheila O’Connor. Join Mona and Sheila as they discuss topics from the brutal impacts of generational trauma and systemic racism to the healing powers of love, family, and hope. This event is presented in partnership with The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, which works to understand and address the ongoing trauma created by U.S. Indian boarding school policies.
Mona Susan Power will be available for book signing and conversation after the event. “A Council of Dolls” will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of Birchbark Books. You may also purchase the book online.
About the Book
From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, “A Council of Dolls” is the story of three generations of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried. Gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, the novel shines a light on the echoing damage wrought by the boarding school system and the historical massacres of Indigenous people.
About the author
Mona Susan Power is the author of four books of fiction and has written short stories and essays that have appeared in publications and anthologies such as The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and Granta. She received a bachelor’s degree and JD from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her first novel, “The Grass Dancer,” was published in 1994.
Mona is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta). She was born and raised in Chicago and now lives in Minneapolis.
About the moderator
Author Sheila O’Connor has written six novels and her short stories, poems, and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Minnesota Monthly, and Bellingham Review, among other publications. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a professor emeritus at Hamline University. Her most recent novel, “Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions,” won the 2020 Minnesota Book Award (Novel & Short Story).
Registration
This free event will be in person with an option to attend virtually via Zoom. Registration required. Captioning will be available for those attending virtually.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 1: Book Bans and the Freedom to Read
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
Books continue to be banned or challenged across the nation, and Minnesota is not exempt in that respect. Book bans have risen by a third over the past year in public schools, and many of these bans are targeting LGBTQ+ characters, themes, and intersectional identities. This session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series will examine the controversy over sexuality and book bans and provide an opportunity to hear directly from authors whose work has been challenged. Quatrefoil Library, a library and queer gathering space in the Twin Cities, will be in conversation with J.J. Austrian, author of Worm Loves Worm, Trung Le Nguyen, author of The Magic Fish, and Junauda Petrus, author of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 2: Transgender Justice
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
In this session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series, our speakers will help to set the stage on the current landscape of transgender rights and issues nationally, and what is happening specifically within Minnesota. Brittany Stewart from Gender Justice, a Minnesota based organization advancing gender equity through the law, will be joined by Máel Embser-Herbert, professor emeritus, U.S. Army Veteran and an editor of With Honor and Integrity: Transgender Troops in Their Own Words, which shares personal stories from transgender people fighting for their right to serve in the U.S. military.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: Through the Banks of the Red Cedar
2024-02-24 14:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for the February 2024 edition of the Minnesota Writers Series as we welcome multidisciplinary artist, Maya Washington, who will discuss her documentary film, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar,” and memoir, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game.” Through film clips, book readings, and conversation, Maya will highlight her bond with and appreciation for her father, Gene Washington, a celebrated professional athlete who came of age during the peak of the civil rights movement. Maya will be joined by noted author and educator, Dr. Artika Tyner, who will moderate the discussion.
Maya Washington will be available for book signing and conversation after the event. “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game,” will be available for purchase at the event.
About the Book
“Through the Banks of the Red Cedar” follows Maya Washington’s path towards understanding the legacy of her father, Gene Washington. Maya retraces her father’s journey from the segregated south to Michigan State University during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement and his journey as a groundbreaking NFL player after the 1967 draft. Through the memoir, Maya reflects on the influence her father’s childhood had on her upbringing, the emotional bond of teammates and friends, and the deepened connection she has to her family and football.
About the Author
Maya Washington is an award-winning, multi-hyphenate artist: writer, poet, director, narrative and documentary filmmaker (writer/director/producer), actress, creative director, visualist (photography), and arts educator. Her background, on stage/camera and behind the scenes, has given her the opportunity to work on everything from public art, live theatre, commercials and print ads, to web series, films and television. Maya received a BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Southern California and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. As a writer, Maya’s poetry and prose have been featured in a number of literary journals and notable anthologies including “The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2 : Black Girl Magic” (Haymarket Books 2018), “Nothing To Lose But Our Chains: Black Voices on Activism, Resistance and Love” (Justice Matters Press, 2018), and “The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives About Being Mixed Race in the Twenty-First Century” (2Leaf Press, 2017). Additionally, Maya received a Pushcart nomination from The Under Review literary journal for her poetry inspired by the historic MLK Tennis Buffs of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood. She is the editor of “White Space Poetry Anthology” featuring the work of deaf and hearing poets as a companion to her award-winning short film starring Ryan Lane, “White Space.” Her award-winning film, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar,” about her father Vikings Legend Gene Washington and the desegregation of college football aired on the Big Ten Network and is currently available on PBS platforms. Her memoir, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game,” is an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best History, and was a 2023 Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. As a freelance tv and film director, Maya has directed episodes of the Fox series “The Killer Next Door,” History Channel’s “I Was There,” and the PBS Kids series “Black SciGirls.”
Besides being her first memoir, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game” is also a documentary, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar,” directed, produced, and written by Maya. The documentary is available on PBS platforms including PBS Documentaries Channel through Amazon Prime, Comcast, and iTunes. The film has been shown at community screenings and film festivals across the country. A curriculum for communities and educators is available at throughthebanksoftheredcedar.com.
About the Moderator
Advocate, attorney, author, and educator Dr. Artika Tyner is committed to creating a more inclusive and racially and economically just world. She received her BA from Hamline University and her JD, Master of Public Policy, and EdD from the University of St. Thomas. A prolific author, Dr. Tyner has written books for children and adults promoting literacy, cultural awareness, and leadership development. She is the founder and director of the nonprofit Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute.
Registration
This free event will be in-person with an option to attend virtually via Zoom. Registration required. Captioning will be available for those attending virtually.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Attend In-Person
Attend Online

Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 3: Detoxing Masculinity
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
Many experts agree that the men and boys of the United States are not ok. By many measures they are falling behind and many of the impacts are less widely talked about. This session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series will seek to pull apart the term toxic masculinity and look instead at detoxing masculinity. Hamline Professor Ryan Jerome LeCount will talk about masculinity and its social expression, particularly in the area of politics and social change in Minnesota and the United States. He will be joined by author Jeremy Norton, who recently published Trauma Sponges, a first-hand account of his experience working as an EMT in the emergency response sector, and what it means for a male-dominated industry to be both full of bravura heroics and deal with intense trauma on a daily basis.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Minneapolis - Minnesota Writers Series: American Precariat
2024-03-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Capri Theater, 2027 W Broadway, Minneapolis, 55411, United States
Join us for the March 2024 edition of the Minnesota Writers Series as we welcome Zeke Caligiuri, Chris Fausto, and Fong Lee, three editors of the anthology “American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion,” published by Coffee House Press. Through readings and discussions, the editors will share the genesis of the anthology, and the importance of bringing to light the stories of those society deems invisible and chooses to exclude. The editors will be joined by Mike Alberti, executive director of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, who will moderate the discussion.
Zeke, Chris, and Fong will be available for book signing and further conversation after the event. “American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion” will be available for purchase from Subtext Books at the event.
This event will take place at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis and is presented in partnership with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW), which connects incarcerated individuals to arts and educational programming and fosters a creative community of writers both within and outside of prisons and correctional facilities.
About the Book
This groundbreaking anthology of essays edited by incarcerated writers takes a sharp look at the complexity and fluidity of class and caste systems in the United States. Featuring accounts that include gig work as a delivery driver, homelessness among trans youth, and life with immense student loan debt, in addition to transcripts of insightful discussions between the editors, “American Precariat” demonstrates how various and often invisible extreme instability can be. With the understanding that widespread recognition of collective precarity is an urgent concern, the anthology situates each individual portrait within societal structures of exclusion, scarcity, and criminality.
About the Editors
Zeke Caligiuri is a writer and activist from South Minneapolis. He is the author of “This is Where I Am,” published by University of Minnesota Press. He has won multiple awards through the PEN Prison Writing Contest and is the co-founder of the Stillwater Writer’s Collective, the first all-prisoner created and facilitated collective in the country. He is a contributor to “The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison” as well as “School, Not Jail: How Educators Can Disrupt School Pushout and Mass Incarceration.” He is directly impacted by over two decades of incarceration and is now currently the re-entry education coordinator for the Minnesota Justice Research Center re-investing in the humanization of those still stuck within the captivity business.
Chris Fausto Cabrera is a multi-genre artist, writer & activist recently released from incarceration after 21 years. His work has appeared in: The Colorado Review, The Antioch Review, Puerto del Sol, The Woodward Review, among others. “The Parameters of Our Cage,” his prose epistle project with photographer Alec Soth is released through MACK books. His latest project is “American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion” where he serves as an editor, published by Coffee House Press. Cabrera co-founded The Stillwater Writers Collective, partnered with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. He works closely with Until We Are All Free and We Are All Criminals to bring attention to the multifaceted ways justice impacts people.
Fong Lee is a Saint-Paul-based artist and We Are All Criminal’s first Storytelling Fellow. Fong spent nearly 18 years inside Minnesota State prisons; he is a celebrated poet, with publications through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop and Asian American Writers Workshop, a beloved painter, and a published photographer. Fong is a restorative justice practitioner and the Storytelling Curator with The Legal Revolution. Fong and his family immigrated to the U.S. as Hmong refugees when Fong was a child, after his family was displaced from their home in Laos. His experience and expertise with incarceration and displacement enable him to make We Are All Criminals all the more dynamic, including strengthening the collaborations between inside and outside artistic partners.
About the Moderator
Mike Alberti has been an administrator for MPWW since 2016, when he graduated from the University of Minnesota with his MFA in Creative Writing. Mike’s fiction has been published in many venues, and his first book, “Some People Let You Down,” won the 2020 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. He was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico and now lives in Minneapolis. In addition to his work with MPWW, he teaches at Century College.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. K-12 Educators will receive 1 clock hour upon completion of the event.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Rochester - Poetry Sparks! Lines, Lyrics, & Laureates
2024-04-13 11:00 - 13:00 | Historic Chateau Theater, 15 1st Street Southwest, Rochester, MN, 55902, United States
Celebrate National Poetry Month with us! Join Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman and City of Rochester Poet Laureate Jean Prokott for Poetry Sparks! Lines, Lyrics, & Laureates. At this family friendly event, Gwen and Jean will share some of their poetry, and then help you write your own. Contribute to community poetry, visit our creative writing stations, write a poem to give away on poem in your pocket day, and take a chance on mystery poems. Don’t miss this opportunity to create poetry with the Laureates, and have fun while diving into the joy of poetic expression!
This event is presented in partnership with Southeast MN Poets, supporting poets of all ages and stages in their careers. The Southeast MN Poets foster growth, experience, and understanding of the art of poetry through writing, reading, and discussion.
About the Laureates
Gwen Nell Westerman is Minnesota’s current Poet Laureate, and was appointed in 2021. An enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate Nation, Gwen is the first Native poet to hold the role of Laureate for Minnesota. She teaches English and Humanities at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and in addition to her 2013 poetry collection “Follow the Blackbirds,” recently published the collection “Songs, Blood Deep”, which has been shortlisted for the 2024 MN Book Awards.
Jean Prokott’s poetry collection “The Second Longest Day of the Year” won the Howling Bird Press Book Prize (Howling Bird Press). She is the author of the chapbook “The Birthday Effect” (Black Sunflowers Press), is a recipient of the AWP Intro Journals Award, and of the John Calvin Rezmerski Memorial Grand Prize with the League of Minnesota Poets. She has poetry and nonfiction published in Verse Daily, Rattle, and Arts & Letters, among other journals. Prokott is the Poet Laureate of Rochester, Minnesota.
Registration
Registration is not required for this free event. Families, kids, all ages welcome. Poetry reading will begin at 11:00 a.m. Participants are invited to drop in any time between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Minneapolis – Minnesota Writers Series: Tartarus
2024-04-28 14:00 - 16:00 | The Loft at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55415, United States
April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, the Minnesota Writers Series will feature Ty Chapman and his debut poetry collection, “Tartarus,” published by Button Poetry. Join us in downtown Minneapolis at Open Book, for an afternoon of readings and discussions. Ty will be in conversation with Sun Yung Shin to reflect on the origins and themes of the collection and why he decided to take up the poetic form.
Both Ty and Sun Yung will be available for book signing and further conversation after the event. “Tartarus” will be available for purchase at the event through Strive Publishing and Bookstore.
This event is presented in partnership with The Loft Literary Center, a haven for readers and writers, and where both Ty and Sun Yung were recently named Lit!Commons Experts.
About the Collection
Between three sections of Basquiat-inspired vignettes, “Tartarus” offers the reader an unflinching look into Chapman’s emerging understanding of his relationship to Black masculinity through familial ties, the oscillation between nihilism and hope, and the ever present tensions felt moving through a state which sees the existence of your body as an inherent danger.
About our Guests
Ty Chapman is an author and poet based in Minnesota. He is the author of “Sarah Rising” (Beaming 2022); “Looking for Happy,” a Minnesota Book Award finalist (Beaming 2023); “Stokes,” written with John Coy (Lerner 2024); “James Finds the Beat” (Free Spirit 2024); and “Tartarus” (Button Poetry 2024). Ty is a 2024 Cave Canem fellow; a 2022 Center for Arts + Social Justice Fellow; a Mirrors & Windows fellow; and a Mentor Series fellow. He holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults through Vermont College of Fine Arts.
신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin was born in Seoul, Korea and was raised in the Chicago area. She is a poet, writer, and cultural worker. She is the editor of “What We Hunger For: Refugee and Immigrant Stories on Food and Family” (2021) and of “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota,” author of poetry collections “The Wet Hex” (winner of the Midland Authors Society Award for Poetry and finalist for a Minnesota Book Award) “Unbearable Splendor” (finalist for the 2017 PEN USA Literary Award for Poetry, winner of the 2016 Minnesota Book Award for poetry); “Rough, and Savage”; and “Skirt Full of Black” (winner of the 2007 Asian American Literary Award for poetry), co-editor of “Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption,” and author of bilingual illustrated book for children “Cooper’s Lesson” and picture book “Where We Come From,” co-written with Diane Wilson, Shannon Gibney, and John Coy. Her forthcoming picture book, “Revolutions are Made of Love: Grace Lee Boggs and James Boggs,” co-written with Mélina Mangal, will be published in 2025.
Registration
This free event will be in-person at Open Book; registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now
