Minnesota Humanities Center

West St. Paul - Celebrate National Poetry Month
2026-04-06 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | Thompson Park Activity Center, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, 55118, United States
Celebrate National Poetry Month with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate, Gwen Westerman, at the Dakota Lodge in Thompson County Park! Join us for an inspiring afternoon as Gwen shares her personal story, reads from her powerful and heartfelt poems, and reflects on the creative journey behind her acclaimed book, “Songs, Blood Deep.” Gwen beautifully captures the landscape, history, and spirit of Minnesota life. Don’t miss this special opportunity to meet our state’s leading voice for poetry and be inspired by the ways language and storytelling connect us all.
About Gwen Nell Westerman
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.
This event is in partnership with Thompson Park Activity Center, serving West Saint Paul.
Registration
Registration for this event through TriDistrict Community Education.
Registration Questions: help@isd199.org
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