Minnesota Humanities Center

Duluth - Minnesota Writers Series: The Sky Watched
2023-07-12 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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St. Paul - An Evening of Haiku and Anishinaabe Song with Kimberly Blaeser, Gordon Henry, Jr., and Gerald Vizenor.
2024-06-26 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a very special evening of poetry and music with esteemed poets and writers, Kimberly Blaeser, Gordon Henry, Jr., and Gerald Vizenor. Our guests will share haiku, Anishinaabe dream songs, music, as well as conversation with one another and the audience on their work and inspirations. In the spirit of nourishing our bodies and our minds, prior to the event, we invite you to join us for a complimentary community meal, during which we will be joined by special musical guest, Phil Fried.
Books by Blaeser, Henry, and Vizenor will be available for purchase at the event through Birchbark Books, and book signing will take place after event activities have ended.
This event is presented in partnership with Indigenous Nations Poets (IN-NA-PO), a national Indigenous poetry community committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native writers past, present, and future. In-Na-Po recognizes the role of poetry in sustaining tribal sovereign nations and Native languages.
About our guests:
Kimberly Blaeser, past Wisconsin Poet Laureate and founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets, is a poet, photographer, and scholar. She is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Ancient Light (2024), Résister en dansant/Ikwe-niimi: Dancing Resistance (2020), and Copper Yearning (2019). Blaeser edited Traces in Blood, Bone, and Stone: Contemporary Ojibwe Poetry, wrote the monograph Gerald Vizenor: Writing in the Oral Tradition on the work of fellow White Earth writer, and served as contributing editor for When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (2020). Her poetry is widely anthologized and her photographs, picto-poems, and ekphrastic pieces have appeared in exhibits such as “Visualizing Sovereignty,” and “No More Stolen Sisters.” An Anishinaabe activist and environmentalist, she is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation and grew up on the reservation. The 2024 Mackey Chair in Creative Writing at Beloit College, Blaeser is a Professor Emerita at UW–Milwaukee and an MFA faculty member for Institute of American Indian Arts. She serves on the Poetry Coalition of the Academy of American Poets, and as Vice President of Letters for Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. Her accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award from Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas. Blaeser splits her time between her home in rural Wisconsin and a water-access cabin adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.
An Anishinaabe poet and novelist, Gordon Henry, Jr. is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation of Minnesota. He is the author of the poetry collection Spirit Matters: White Clay, Red Exits, Distant Other (2022), a mixed-genre collection The Failure of Certain Charms and Other Disparate (2007), a chapbook Outside White Earth (1986), and the novel The Light People (1994) which won an American Book Award. He co-published an educational reader The Ojibway (2004) with George Cornell, and his poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in various journal and anthologies in the U. S. and Europe including in New Poets of Native Nations (2018), When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through (2020), and Living Nations, Living Words (2021). A past Professor in the English Department at Michigan State University, he also served for many years as Senior Editor of the American Indian Studies Series at Michigan State University Press, and held a Fulbright Lectureship in Spain. Gordon now lives in Empire, Michigan.
Gerald Vizenor is Professor Emeritus of American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a citizen of the White Earth Nation in Minnesota, and has published more than forty books, novels, literary and cultural studies, and poetry. Native Provenance: The Betrayal of Cultural Creativity, a collection of essays, is his most recent publication. Vizenor has received many awards including the American Book Award for Griever: An American Monkey King in China, the Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Mark Twain Award from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature.
Registration
There is no cost to attend this event, however registration is required. A complimentary light evening meal will be served at 5:30 p.m. prior to the event start at 6:00 p.m.
Register Now

St. Paul - Indigenous Nations Poets: Poetry Reading
2024-06-28 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC), in partnership with Indigenous Nations Poets (IN-NA-PO) is honored to present an evening of poetry readings with this year’s IN-NA-PO fellows and visiting writers. Capping off their week-long retreat at MHC, a group of IN-NA-PO fellows and visiting writers will share some of their original work and engage each other and the audience in conversation. Fellows taking part include Anangookwe Wolf, Anthony Ceballos, Bonney Hartley, Halee Kirkwood, Kalehua Kim, Kinsale Drake, Sunni Parisien, and Tacey Atsitty. Hosting this event will be former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser, City of Minneapolis Poet Laureate Heid E. Erdrich, and Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman.
In the spirit of nourishing our bodies and our minds, prior to the event, we invite you to join us for a complimentary community meal. Books will be available for purchase at the event through Birchbark Books, and book signing will take place after event activities have ended.
This event is presented in partnership with Indigenous Nations Poets (IN-NA-PO), a national Indigenous poetry community committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native writers past, present, and future. In-Na-Po recognizes the role of poetry in sustaining tribal sovereign nations and Native languages.
About the event hosts:
Kimberly Blaeser, past Wisconsin Poet Laureate and founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets, is a poet, photographer, and scholar. She is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Ancient Light (2024), Résister en dansant/Ikwe-niimi: Dancing Resistance (2020), and Copper Yearning (2019). Her photographs, picto-poems, and ekphrastic pieces have appeared in exhibits such as “Visualizing Sovereignty,” and “No More Stolen Sisters.” An Anishinaabe activist and environmentalist, she is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation and grew up on the reservation. The 2024 Mackey Chair in Creative Writing at Beloit College, Blaeser is a Professor Emerita at UW–Milwaukee and an MFA faculty member for Institute of American Indian Arts. Her accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award from Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas. Blaeser splits her time between her home in rural Wisconsin and a water-access cabin adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.
Heid E. Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota and is Ojibwe enrolled at Turtle Mountain. Heid teaches, edits, and curates visual arts exhibitions with a focus on Native American art. Many of her seven poetry collections contain works created for collaborations with visual artists. Her poetry collection Little Big Bully, 2020, won a National Poetry Series award and the Bobbitt prize from The Library of Congress. Heid edited the 2018 anthology New Poets of Native Nations which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. She is the 2024 Minneapolis Poet Laureate.
Gwen Nell Westerman is a poet, visual artist, and scholar. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie and reveal themselves in her art and writing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father’s family is from the Heipa District. Her mother’s family is from the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Neither of her parents spoke English when they were sent as small children to boarding schools in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Singing and writing for as long as she can remember, Gwen understands from experience the important ways language and the land shape who we are. She was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Minnesota in 2021.
Registration
There is no cost to attend this event, however registration is required. A complimentary light evening meal will be served at 5:30 p.m. prior to the event start at 6:00 p.m.
Register Now

St. Paul – Shakespeare in Our Parks: Twelfth Night
2024-07-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) is delighted to host Classical Actors Ensemble during their 10th season of Shakespeare in Our Parks! Join us on the MHC lawn as we cheer, laugh, and swoon at this year’s production: “Twelfth Night, or What You Will.” This romantic comedy presents the misadventures of shipwrecked twins who separately wash ashore in a distant land, each thinking the other dead, and soon become entangled in an unrequited love triangle of noble bon vivants.
Picnics, lawn chairs, sun umbrellas, and blankets are welcome. Note that the performance is in an open field with minimal shade. Please plan accordingly. Can’t make it on July 14? Check out Classical Actors Ensemble’s full calendar for other performances across the Twin Cities this summer.
From Classical Actors Ensemble: “The Theater is a sacred place. It is a public forum where actors and audience gather to contemplate what it means to be human. Shakespeare and his contemporaries grappled with that question in some of the English language’s best poetry, leaving behind a canon of compelling stories with universal themes that provide invigorating challenge for actors and an awe-inspiring legacy for audiences. Classical Actors Ensemble performs the plays of the English Renaissance as they were originally intended: as popular entertainment for everyone. By demonstrating why these works of art are considered classic, we freshly prove their relevance in today’s world.”
Registration
Registration is encouraged, but not required. There is no cost to attend.
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St. Paul - Summer Book Fest & Little Free Library Opening
2024-08-17 11:00 - 14:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a summer celebration of books and storytelling as we open our new Little Free Library. Community partner Little Free Library (LFL) will be on hand to share more on how you can start your own LFL or bring your own books and participate in an LFL book share. Local authors Dr. Artika Tyner, Ty Chapman, and Monica Rojas will give readings of their children’s books; musician and storyteller Ms. Rose will lead a musical storytime; we’ll have story strolls, a scavenger hunt, book giveaways, prizes, and more! In addition, local favorite Eggroll Queen will be selling their treats and eats for you to enjoy. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to enjoy the magic of books together on MHC’s front lawn.
Free to attend, no registration required. In case of inclement weather, events will take place inside the MHC event center.

Mankato - Minnesota Writers Series: It Took Courage
2024-09-21 13:00 - 15:00 | Blue Earth County Historical Society, 424 Warren Street, Mankato, MN, 56001, United States
Join us at the Blue Earth County Historical Society in Mankato as we welcome acclaimed scholar Dr. Christopher P. Lehman, author of the recently published “It Took Courage: Eliza Winston’s Quest for Freedom” (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2024). Dr. Lehman will discuss the moving and impactful life of Eliza Winston with the event moderator, Stacy Wells.
Dr. Lehman will be available for book signing and conversation after the event. Be sure to show up early for the event – the first 25 attendees will receive a complimentary copy of “It Took Courage” or “Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State,” also by Dr. Lehman and the winner of the 2020 Minnesota Book Award for Minnesota Nonfiction.
About the book:
“It Took Courage” examines the life of Eliza Winston, an enslaved woman from Mississippi who, in 1860, appealed for her freedom before a judge in Minnesota and won. Previous research and considerations of Winston have examined her life and the impact of her case from other perspectives, including the abolitionists who helped Winston petition for her freedom and then claimed more credit than they were due, as well as white Minnesotans who reacted violently after learning the decision of the case. While these accounts have centered on the effect of Winston’s freedom on Minnesota politics, “It Took Courage” uncovers the life of Eliza Winston, her resilience, and her powerful self-advocacy. Dr. Lehman’s book offers us a new account of Eliza Winston, from the tragedies of her youth to her enslavement by the family of President Andrew Jackson, to her journey from the American South to Minnesota and the aftermath of the trial.
About the author:
Christopher P. Lehman is a professor of ethnic studies at St. Cloud State University, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. An historian, Dr. Lehman’s research focuses on American popular culture, representation of African Americans throughout U.S. history, and the struggle of African American equality. He is the author of seven historical nonfiction books and his most recent works, “It Took Courage” and “Slavery’s Reach” investigate the profound impact that slavery had in Minnesota and across the United States.
About the moderator:
Stacy Wells is a dedicated educator and equity thought leader with experience as a leader in the public and private sectors, K-12 teacher and administrator, higher education faculty member, and consultant. She is the co-founder of Love & Struggle, LLC, which consults with organizations to embed equity and create racially just environments, and co-author of “WRITE on RACE to Be RIGHT on RACE Resource Journaling Guide.” Stacy is the Chief Health Equity Director-Direct Care & Treatment at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Latino Poetry: “Places We Call Home”
2024-10-07 18:30 - 20:00 | Riverview Library, 1 E George St, St. Paul, MN, 55107, United States
What does Latino poetry reveal about America? How might it help us imagine a more just, joyful, and hopeful future? Taking place at the St. Paul Public Library – Riverview, poets Ray Gonzalez and Lupe Castillo share readings from Places We Call Home, an anthology that celebrates and explores the multifaceted legacy of Latino poetry. Presented with Minnesota Humanities Center.
Ray Gonzalez is the author of fifteen books of poetry, including The Heat of Arrivals, winner of the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Book Award; Cabato Sentora, a Minnesota Book Award Finalist; The Hawk Temple at Tierra Grande, winner of the 2003 Minnesota Book Award; Consideration of the Guitar: New & Selected Poems; Cool Auditor: Prose Poems; and Beautiful Wall, also a Minnesota Book Award winner. Gonzalez is also the author of three collections of essays, two collections of short stories, and the editor of twelve anthologies. Gonzalez is a professor in the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Minnesota.
Lupe Castillo is the creator of HeartSpeaks: Voices of Cultura Healing & Writing Circles and a self-identified XicanaIndia from the Southern lands. As a Culture Bearer, HeartSpeaks provides activated radical collaborations in writing and spoken word artistry. Lupe facilitates writing circles and poetry workshops in community groups, high schools, and universities. Lupe’s recent poetry is documented in the Northside Green “Our Urban Canopy” Art/Coloring Book. An upcoming co-authored poetry book will be published in 2025.
About Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home seeks to foster nationwide conversation on this vital form of literature through a groundbreaking new anthology edited by Rigoberto González, events around the country, an online media archive, and a wealth of library resources meant to spur in-depth reflection and discussion on key figures and themes.
This program is presented as part of Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home, a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.
Registration
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Marcie Rendon
2024-12-06 18:30 - 20:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a special evening with acclaimed author, poet, and playwright, Marcie Rendon, as she delves into her latest book, “Where They Last Saw Her” (Bantam Books, 2024). Marcie will be in conversation with Lisa Skjefte, Deputy Director at MIGIZI. Their conversation will explore crime novels, humor, resilience, and what it means to be an Indigenous woman in Minnesota today.
Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, enjoy light refreshments, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Copies of “Where They Last Saw Her,” along with other titles by Marcie Rendon, will be available for purchase from Moon Palace Books at the event and the evening will finish with a book signing.
This event is presented in partnership with MIGIZI, which supports the development of American Indian youth through academic, cultural, and career-building programs, and is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers. While the event is free, registration is required to reserve your spot. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with one of Minnesota’s most compelling voices.
About the Book
Things are different now for Quill than when she was a lonely girl. Her friends Punk and Gaylyn are two women who don’t know what it means to quit; her loving husband, Crow, and their two beautiful children challenge her to be better every day. So when she hears a second woman has been stolen, she is determined to do something about it—starting with investigating the group of men working the pipeline construction just north of their homes.
As Quill closes in on the truth about the missing women, someone else disappears. In her quest to find justice for all of the women of the reservation, she is confronted with the hard truths of their home and the people who purport to serve them. When will she stop losing neighbors, friends, family? As Quill puts everything on the line to make a difference, the novel asks searing questions about bystander culture, the reverberations of even one act of crime, and the long-lasting trauma of being considered invisible. (Random House Publishing Group)
About the Author
Marcie R. Rendon, citizen of the White Earth Nation, is one of O: The Oprah Magazine’s 31 Native American Authors to Read Right Now and a McKnight Distinguished Artist Award winner. Her debut novel, “Murder on the Red River,” received the Pinckley Prize for Debut Novel Award and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award, Contemporary Novel category, and her second novel, “Girl Gone Missing,” was nominated for the G. P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Her script, “Say Their Names,” will be produced by Out of Hand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. And her script “Sweet Revenge” had a staged reading at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The creative mind of Raving Native Theater, she curated Twin Cities Public Television’s “Art Is . . . CreativeNativeResilience.” Rendon received the Loft Literary Center’s Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship with co-creator Diego Vazquez for their work with incarcerated women.
About the Moderator
Lisa Skjefte, Red Lake Nation Anishinaabe, joined MIGIZI in April of 2023 as our new Deputy Director. She was formerly the Vice President of Community Engagement and Impact at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC). Prior to her work at MIWRC, Lisa worked at Children’s Minnesota where she specialized in systems change by partnering with and leading efforts to institutionalize health equity. While at Children’s Minnesota she co-created with the community two separate community and patient experience initiatives, The First Gift and the American Indian Volunteer Cohort. Lisa is also the co-founder of KWESTRONG, a grassroots movement centered around an annual Native Women’s Triathlon (RUN BIKE CANOE) at Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Minnesota, and is currently finishing up her Master of Public Health (MPH) at the University of Minnesota.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Rochester - Resistance, Voice, and Verse: A Latino Poetry Reading
2025-04-10 18:00 - 19:00 | Rochester Public Library, 101 2nd St SE, Rochester, 55904, United States
Join us for a special Poetry Month celebration of Latino poetry at the Rochester Public Library! This engaging event will feature readings of powerful poems, and opportunities for discussion and reflection. Students from Rochester Public Schools will read poems from the recently released anthology, “Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology” as well as their original work, and the event will be emceed by City of Rochester Poet Laureate, Jean Prokott.
Attendees will have a chance to win a copy of “Latino Poetry: Library of America Anthology” – come celebrate the rich tradition of Latino poetry, connect with fellow poetry lovers, and share in the beauty of language and storytelling. Free to attend, light refreshments provided. All are welcome!
Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home is a major public humanities initiative, planned for 2024–25, that celebrates and explores the multifaceted legacy of Latino poetry. It is directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.
Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home es una iniciativa de gran alcance en el campo de las humanidades públicas que celebra el legado multifacético de la poesía latina. Esta iniciativa de realiza bajo el auspicio de Library of America con el generoso financiamiento del Fondo Nacional para las Humanidades y Emerson Collective.

Online - Let’s Animate! Poetry Craft Talk and Workshop with Heid E. Erdrich
2025-04-16 19:00 - 20:15 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-lets-animate-poetry-craft-talk-and-workshop-with-heid-e-erdrich/
Join us for an engaging and interactive online poetry craft talk and workshop! Featuring her most recent collection, “Verb Animate,” this workshop will be led by esteemed writer and the first poet laureate of the City of Minneapolis, Heid E. Erdrich.
In this session, participants will dip into creative activities using poems and prompts from “Verb Animate.” Heid will also read poems from this collection and share more about its creation; each poem included arose from a collaborative act with another poet or artist. Whether you are a seasoned poet or just beginning, don’t miss this opportunity to write and learn more about community centered, collaborative poetry.
About the Poet
Heid E. Erdrich is the author of a dozen books in both poetry and prose. She grew up in North Dakota and is Ojibwe, enrolled at Turtle Mountain. She curates art exhibits, teaches, researches, and collaborates with other artists. In 2024, Heid served as the Inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate. She is the 2025 James Welch Visiting Writer at University of Montana Missoula.
This event is presented in partnership with Trio House Press, publisher of “Verb Animate” and the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, which engages visitors and the community with great art inspired by water; don’t miss the opportunity to see their current exhibit “Once Upon A Shore,” curated by Heid E. Erdrich.
Registration
Registration cost includes a copy of “Verb Animate.” Please register by April 9, 2025 to allow time to mail a book to you — you won’t want to miss this great opportunity! By registering you’ll also have a chance to receive two (2) complimentary admission tickets to the MN Marine Art Museum, compliments of Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Drawing for the tickets will take place during the workshop.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Minneapolis - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Tarik Dobbs
2025-04-23 18:00 - 20:00 | The Loft at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55415, United States
Join us for a special Poetry Month event featuring poet Tarik Dobbs in conversation with Sagirah Shahid, discussing Dobbs’ powerful collection, “Nazar Boy.” This thought-provoking work explores themes of identity, surveillance, and the complexities of Arab American life through sharp, evocative verse.
Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, enjoy light refreshments, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Copies of “Nazar Boy” will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
About the Author
Tarik Dobbs (b. 1997, Dearborn, MI) is a writer, artist, and Poetry Foundation Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow. Dobbs holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and an M.F.A. in art, theory, practice from Northwestern University. Dobbs is assistant professor of English in creative writing (poetry) at Southwest Minnesota State University. The debut poetry collections by Dobbs, Nazar Boy (2024) and Dearbornistan (2026), are from Haymarket Books.
About the Moderator
Sagirah Shahid is an African American Muslim poet, editor, arts administrator, and performance artist from Minneapolis, MN. She is a recipient of awards, fellowship, and residencies from the Loft Literary Center, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Twin Cities Media Alliance, Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art and Muslim Advocates, Strive Publishing, Wisdom Ways, Nicollet Lanterns, and 826 MSP. Sagirah’s prose and poetry have been published by Mizna, The Drinking Gourd, Insight News, Winter Tangerine, Pollen, Blue Minaret, Puerto Del Sol, Paper Darts, Juked, Walker Art Center, About Place Journal, the Saint Paul Almanac, and elsewhere.
This event is presented in partnership with New Arab American Theater Works, a Minnesota based collective of SWANA (Southwest Asian/North African) playwrights, musicians, and performing artists, and is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to you.
Registration
This event is free, however registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Northfield - Threads of Tanka: A Reading and Poetry Writing Event
2025-04-26 11:00 - 12:30 | Northfield Public Library, 210 Washington St, Northfield, MN, 55057, United States
Celebrate National Poetry Month this April with the Poet Laureate of Northfield, Russ Paladin, and the Minnesota Poet Laureate, Gwen Nell Westerman! Russ and Gwen will come together for an interactive event that includes poetry readings, a conversation on craft and inspiration, and writing – with a focus on the poetic form of tanka.
As part of the event, participants will have the chance to dive deeper into the art of tanka with a short, guided writing activity—an opportunity to create your own verse, no matter your level of experience. We’ll have also have light refreshments and each participant will receive a complimentary copy of “Songs, Blood Deep” to take home.
Whether you’re a seasoned poetry lover or simply curious about exploring this unique art form, come celebrate the power of words with the laureates!
About the Poets
Under his pen name Russ Paladin, Russel Boyington has published work in The Brasilia Review, DISTURBED Digest, and Medusa’s Laugh Press. His novel SOUND OF DARKNESS was runner-up for the Joanna Catherine Scott Novel Excerpt Prize. When not slaving over one pencil sketch or another, practicing piano, or directing middle school or community theater, he supervises the Before/After School Care program at Prairie Creek Community School. Northfield, Minnesota, located in the Upper Mississppi River Valley, has been his home for 10 years. Russel is the current Northfield Poet Laureate.
Gwen Nell Westerman is a poet, visual artist, and scholar. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie and reveal themselves in her art and writing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father’s family is from the Heipa District. Her mother’s family is from the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Neither of her parents spoke English when they were sent as small children to boarding schools in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Singing and writing for as long as she can remember, Gwen understands from experience the important ways language and the land shape who we are. She was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz in 2021.
Registration
This event is free to attend, however registration is required. Light refreshments will be provided. Space is limited so register soon!
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Red Wing – Minnesota Children’s Book Festival
2025-09-13 11:00 - 16:00 | Anderson Center at Tower View, 163 Tower View Drive, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
The Anderson Center at Tower View is pleased to announce that the 26th annual Minnesota Children’s Book Festival will be held on Saturday, September 13, 2025 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. This beloved event features presentations of new books by award-winning authors and illustrators writing for young readers through middle grade. Taking place at the Anderson Center’s beautiful, historic Tower View campus, the Children’s Book Festival is an ideal opportunity for families to connect, learn, and play.
Throughout the afternoon, each author or illustrator presents their work, reads from their book, and participates in a meet & greet and book signing booth. Taking place outdoors, the event also features hands-on activities that engage the mind, body, and imagination. With balloons, face painting, art-making, kid-friendly food trucks, and more, there’s something to delight the inner child in all of us.
This event is FREE and all ages are welcome!
The Minnesota Humanities Center will be tabling throughout the day — stop by to say hello, learn more about our book projects, and let us know you saw the event on our website to win a prize!
For a complete schedule of events, please visit the Anderson Center website.
Schedule of Events
