Genre:
Memoir/Creative Nonfiction

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Patricia Cumbie

Patricia Cumbie is the author of two books, the memoir The Shape of a Hundred Hips, and the young adult novel Where People Like Us Live. Her writing has been supported by The Loft Literary Center’s Fiction Mentor Series, a SASE/Jerome Fellowship, a Loft Career Initiative Grant, and a Minnesota State Arts Board fellowship. She…

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Gene Stark

Gene Stark writes fiction, non-fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and has written a children’s book. His writing is local, rural, and outdoors-oriented. Minnesota and local interest predominate his writing. Stark’s audience is comprised of the folks who live and work in Flyover Country. He has been a teacher, farmer, and a grower and propagator of native…

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Carol Masters

Carol Masters is the author of Dear Descendent, poems; the biography You Can’t Do That: Mary Davidov, Nonviolent Revolutionary (finalist for the 2010 Midwest Independent Publishers Award), and The Peace Terrorist, short stories (1994 winner of MN Voices Project). She has been part of a Loft Mentor series and a Loft-McKnight winner. Her poems and…

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Barton Sutter

Bart Sutter is the only writer to win the Minnesota Book Award in three different categories: poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Among other honors, he has won a Bush Foundation Fellowship, a Jerome Foundation Travel & Study Grant (Sweden), a Loft-McKnight Award, and the Bassine Citation from the Academy of American Poets. In 2006, he…

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Katya Gordon

Katya Gordon fell in love with the northern forests and Lake Superior when she first moved to Minnesota in 1991. She is a wilderness leader, a Restorative Justice facilitator and trainer, a sailor, small business owner, climate activist, radio show host, wife, homemaker, and mother of two teenage daughters. She lives in Two Harbors.

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Matt Lilley

Matt Lilley has published more than 20 children’s books. He has an M.S. in Scientific and Technical Communication from the University of Minnesota. The focus of his degree was on health and medical writing, with a special emphasis on medical writing for kids. His other favorite writing subjects include exploration and nature. He loves learning…

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Joy Riggs

Joy Riggs grew up in Alexandria, Minnesota, and graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in news-editorial journalism. She specializes in writing about history, travel, and parenting. Her essays, articles, and award-winning columns have appeared in numerous publications, including the Star Tribune, Minnesota Parent, The Manifest-Station, BLUNTmoms, and…

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Laura Packer

Laura Packer knows that the best way to the truth is through a good story. Whether folktale or true, epic or flash, her spoken and written stories captivate audiences. She is committed to helping others find their voice, tell their story, and change the world. Packer is the 2018 MN Grand Slam Champion, Best in…

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Bukola Oriola

Bukola Oriola is an international public and motivational speaker, bestselling author, mentor, advocate, entrepreneur, consultant, and member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. She is an award-winning journalist and a survivor of labor trafficking and domestic violence. Depicting her experiences in two memoirs, she has dedicated her life to helping others by sharing…

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Natalie Fowler

Once a practicing attorney, Natalie Fowler is an author, a freelance editor (for FATE Magazine), paranormal investigator (for Ghost Stories Ink) and a psychic medium. Fascinated by good ghost stories from a very young age, now she writes her own stories inspired by her work as a ghost hunter and psychic medium. An avid researcher…