Minnesota Humanities Center

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Mubanga Kalimamukwento
2025-09-10 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Black Garnet Books, 1319 University Ave W, St. Paul, 55104, United States
Join us for a special evening with Mubanga Kalimamukwento, author of “Obligations to the Wounded,” winner of this year’s Minnesota Book Award for novel/short story. Mubanga will be in conversation with Mona Susan Power, and along with readings from the book, their discussion will explore creative writing, the short story craft, family, culture, emigration, and more. Audience members will be invited to participate in a Q&A session, enjoy light refreshments, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Copies of “Obligations to the Wounded” will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
About the Speakers
Mubanga Kalimamukwento was born in Lusaka, Zambia. Her creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in adda, Aster(ix), Contemporary Verse 2, Kweli, Overland, The Ex-Puritan, Menelique, on Netflix, and elsewhere, and her editorial work can be found or is forthcoming in Shenandoah, the Water~Stone Review, Doek! Literary Magazine, and Safundi. She founded Ubwali Literary Magazine and co-founded the Idembeka Creative Writing Workshop. When she’s not writing or editing, Mubanga serves as a Mentor at the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. She is a PhD student in the Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota (Twin-Cities), where she is also an Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) Scholar. Mubanga lives in Minnesota with her husband and their two children.
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.
This event is presented in partnership with Black Garnet Books, an independent bookstore in Saint Paul, MN that offers a curated selection of books and art by authors and illustrators of color in an environment that encourages learning, joyful interaction, and communal care for everyone who visits. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - History Fest
2025-08-14 08:30 - 15:30 | Minnesota History Center, 345 W Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN, 55102, United States
Get ready for the 2025-2026 school year with a choice of educator-led sessions focusing on state, national and world history, as well as assessments, primary sources, and more. Connect with your history peers from around the state! This workshop has sessions for elementary, middle, and high school levels. The Minnesota Humanities Center will be tabling in the vendor area – stop by to view MHC’s educator resources and learn more about our work with educators.
Registration
History Fest is organized by the Minnesota History Center. Registration and payment through MNHS for the full conference are required to attend.
Registration Questions: Email Jessica McMahon at jessica.mcmahon@mnhs.org.
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Duluth - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Michelle Filkins, Margret Aldrich, Julie Gard, Jennifer Hopkins & Leslie Miller
2025-08-07 18:30 - 20:30 | Wussow’s Concert Cafe, 324 N Central Ave, Duluth, MN, 55807, United States
What can we discover when we reclaim the term ‘locker room talk’ and the intimate conversations between women in personal spaces? The Minnesota Book Award winning anthology, “Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces,” lays bare some of these conversations shared by women from Minnesota and beyond, demonstrating how women show up and care for each other, and the power of women to create safe and supportive spaces. Join us for a discussion with editors Michelle Filkins and Margret Aldrich, and contributing author and Duluth resident Julie Gard and contributing authors Jennifer Hopkins and Leslie Miller for readings and a conversation about the book. Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. The café will be open during the event with food and drink available to buy. Copies of “Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces” will available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
About the Speakers
Michelle Filkins is a founding editor of Spout Press and a contributing author to “The Evolution of Human Cooperation and Community Development” (Lexington Books), and “Creating a Transformational Community: The Fundamentals of Stewardship Activities” (Lexington Books). She is a Little Free Library steward and one of the Daunte Wright Memorial caretakers. Currently she is a professor and reference and instruction librarian at Metro State University in St. Paul. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two teenage sons.
Margret Aldrich is the author of “The Little Free Library Book” (Coffee House Press), a ten-year veteran of the publishing industry, recipient of an Innovator Award from the Book Industry Study Group, and former Princeton University writing fellow. She has published her work with The Atlantic, Utne Reader, Huffington Post, Book Riot, and others. Today Margret is the director of communications and media relations at the Little Free Library nonprofit organization.
Julie Gard’s most recent prose poetry collection, “I Think I Know You,” won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award and was a finalist for the INDIES Book of the Year Award. “Home Studies” (New Rivers Press) was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, and additional publications include “Scrap: On Louise Nevelson” (Ravenna Press) and two chapbooks. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota and is a Professor of Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Jennifer Hopkins has a spectacular cast of characters in the story of her life. Her hope is that anyone reading her story is reminded to build communities of love, strength, and laughter. Jennifer has been in love with the ying to her yang for over twenty years, and they raised a son together. Both men impress her daily with their integrity, devotion, and comedic timing.
Leslie Adrienne Miller’s collections of poetry include “Y,” “The Resurrection Trade,” and “Eat Quite Everything You See” from Graywolf Press, and “Yesterday Had a Man In It,” “Ungodliness,” and “Staying Up For Love” from Carnegie Mellon University Press. Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas, she holds degrees in creative writing and literature from Stephens College, University of Missouri, Iowa Writers Workshop, and University of Houston.
This event is presented in partnership with Wussow’s Concert Cafe, an inclusive and supportive home for local artists, musicians, writers, and everyone in between, and Spout Press, a small, all-volunteer, non-profit literary publisher that publishes and promotes the finest in contemporary experimental writing — mentoring young writers and bringing new and/or under-appreciated voices to the attention of a larger audience. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s writers directly to readers.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Native American Lives Series Book Launch
2025-08-04 18:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Come help us celebrate the launch of the first four books in the Native American Lives Series! Written for middle grade readers, this biography series features Dakota and Ojibwe leaders and changemakers pivotal to both Minnesota and the United States, such as Charles Albert Bender, a World-series winning pitcher, and the first Minnesotan to join the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
During the launch event, meet the editors and authors, enjoy live readings, connect with community partners, and be among the first to get your hands on these inspiring books. If you are an educator, we will share about upcoming opportunities to bring the books into classrooms, including book giveaways, mini-grants, and professional development. Visit the Native American Lives Series program page to learn about all 12 titles in the series.
This event is free to attend, and light refreshments will be served. The first 30 guests who register in advance will receive a free book from the series and the first 30 educators to register will receive four free books for their classroom! You must be in attendance to receive a free book and bring a school ID to receive the four classroom books. Complimentary books will also be available for a $10 donation to the Minnesota Humanities Center at the event, and the evening will end with a book signing.
Whether you are an educator, parent, librarian, or lifelong learner, this is your chance to discover a new series that honors Indigenous histories and futures, and to celebrate Native storytelling at its very best. All are welcome!
Published by Lerner Publishing Group, the series is supported by the Minnesota Humanities Center, generously funded through the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) through its Understand Native Minnesota campaign, also funded in part by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
About the Speakers
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, and a co-editor of the Native American Lives Series
Diane Wilson is a Dakota author, educator, and bog steward. Her novel, The Seed Keeper (2021) and her memoir, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past (2006), won the Minnesota Book Awards in 2022 and 2007. She has also published a nonfiction book, Beloved Child; and co-authored a picture book—Where We Come From. Her essays have appeared in anthologies including: Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations (2021); We Are Meant to Rise (2021); and A Good Time for the Truth (2016). She is the former Executive Director for Dream of Wild Health and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance. In addition to this book, she authored the first in the series, Ella Cara Deloria: Dakota Language Protector. Wilson is a Mdewakanton descendant, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation.
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.
Jessica Engelking is the daughter of an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She grew up in Warroad, Minnesota, with her parents and younger sister. After high school, she attended the University of Minnesota–Morris, making use of their American Indian Tuition Waiver. She graduated with a BA in philosophy and went on to study philosophy at the graduate level. She received her MA in philosophy from the University of Iowa. She currently resides in Minnetonka and is isolating in Elkader, Iowa, with her boyfriend, David, and dog, Walden. She is working from home as the social media manager for the Great Plains Action Society, a Native nonprofit. Jessica enjoys running with her dog, spending time on the water, reading, and she’s trying to get better at beading.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Marshall - The Power of Poetry: A Social Studies Bundling Workshop
2025-05-09 10:00 - 14:00 | Southwest West Central Service Cooperative, 1420 East College Drive, Marshall, MN, 56258, United States
Are you interested in teaching poetry to your students? Would you like to learn more about aligning poetry to academic standards and benchmarks? If so, this workshop is for you! The first part of this workshop will include an overview of two poetry programs, Poetry Sparks!, intended for K-8th grades, developed by the Minnesota Poet Laureate, Gwen Nell Westerman, and the Latino Poetry Anthology, intended for 6-12th grades, published by the Library of America. The overview will also include viewing some of the primary sources associated with each program.
In the second half of the workshop, Brittany Rawson-Haeg, Social Studies Specialist with MDE, will walk participants through interdisciplinary bundling, what bundling is, and how both the poetry writing process and individual poems can be used to create a bundle for use with students in the classroom. Standards across Social Studies will be addressed.
This workshop is best suited for elementary generalists, social studies classroom teachers, or anyone working in curriculum instruction supporting social studies. Lunch will be provided, and all participants will receive a complimentary copy of “Songs, Blood Deep” by Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, or the Latino Poetry Anthology.
Pending funding, educators who participate in this workshop will have first access to the Poetry Pathways Programs for the 2025-2026 academic year. Poetry Pathways is a mini-grant opportunity that brings poets and teaching artists directly into classrooms to work with students to foster creativity and writing and exposes them to the power of poetry, using their voices for expression.
About Poetry Pathways
Poetry Pathways is a collaboration between the Minnesota Humanities Center, and The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the Minnesota Center for the Book. Vital to Minnesota communities, poetry is a powerful medium for cultural expression, community building, and drawing attention to important stories and issues, while also providing a space for healing and reflection. It plays a crucial role in education and youth engagement, enriching the social fabric of the state.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. Lunch will be provided, and all participants will receive a complimentary copy of “Songs, Blood Deep” by Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, or the Latino Poetry Anthology. K-12 Educators will receive 4 clock hours.
Registration Questions: Dawn.Christensen@swwc.org
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

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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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
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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

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.

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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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 - 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.

Online - Resistance, Resilience & Reimagination Information Session
2024-08-05 16:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-05 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-07-22 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-07-22 16:00 - 17:00 | Online
Join teachers of color and American Indian teachers from across the state in a year-long program designed to engage participants in navigating education systems with resistance, resilience, and reimagination. A partnership between Intermediate School District 917, Metro State University, and MHC, this PELSB (Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board) funded program provides free of cost and paid stipend opportunities for participants.
Register for one of four information sessions to learn more about this opportunity for teachers of color and American Indian teachers.

Monday July 22, 2024, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Monday July 22, 2024, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Monday August 5, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Monday August 5, 2024, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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.
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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

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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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: 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
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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

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

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

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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Red Wing - Minnesota Writers Series: Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX
2023-11-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Anderson Center at Tower View, 163 Tower View Drive, Red Wing, MN, 55066, 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 coordination with our partners at Anderson Center at Tower View, as part of their Books in the Barn series.
Books will be available for purchase and signing following the reading, courtesy of Fair Trade Books.
Registration is required for this in-person event in Red Wing.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Poetry Sparks! Book Discussion and Open Mic with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate, Gwen Nell Westerman
2023-11-04 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a two-part event, a book launch of Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman’s new collection, “Songs, Blood Deep”, followed by an Open Mic! Poet and author Heid Erdrich will engage Gwen in conversation about her new collection, and what the role of the Poet Laureate has meant for her. Their discussion will be followed by an all-ages Open Mic emceed by former St. Paul Youth Poet Laureate, Chavah Gabrielle. Hear Gwen, Heid, and Chavah read some of their work, and then take the stage yourself to read or perform!
Books will be available for purchase and signing after the Open Mic. This event is free, however registration is required; a light dinner will be provided. If you would like to read a poem during the open mic, email Corey China at corey@mnhum.org to be added to the program!
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
SOLD OUT – REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

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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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 - 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
