Literary Fiction
Literary Fiction writers from Minnesota.
Lynn Garthwaite
Lynn Garthwaite is the author of 11 books, including mysteries, non-fiction, and children’s early chapter books. She has short stories in four anthologies and is working with a producer on the pre-production of a limited series for her mystery/thriller novel Starless Midnight. Garthwaite also writes screenplays and is working to adapt her children’s series into…
Emilio DeGrazia
Emilio DeGrazia, from Winona, is a writer, teacher, and editor. In 1977 he founded Great River Review, now with the University of Minnesota. His first short story collection, Enemy Country, was followed by a novel, Billy Brazil. Then came more stories, Seventeen Grams of Soul, the novel A Canticle for Bread and Stones, essay collections…
Kristi Belcamino
Kristi Belcamino is a USA Today bestselling crime writer, chess fanatic, and newspaper crime reporter. Her gritty, glamorous thrillers—like the Gia Santella and Queen of Spades series—feature kick-butt women, deadly secrets, and high-stakes revenge. Think Jackie Collins meets Patricia Cornwell. As a reporter, she has flown in an FA/18 jet with the Blue Angels, interviewed…
Damone Bester
Damone Bester is a two-time award-winning author whose debut novel Mendel received both a BookFest Award and a Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Fiction. His highly anticipated sequel, Blue Smoke Rises, releases in 2026. Known for bold storytelling that blends emotional depth with social insight, Bester teaches writers how to develop authentic voice, build compelling…
Dave Kenney
Dave Kenney is the author of nearly two dozen books, all historical non-fiction, covering topics ranging from World War II to the movie industry. Two of them won the Minnesota Book Award. His previous career in journalism included stints as a local television reporter and as a writer with CNN. He lives in Roseville, Minnesota,…
Andrew Kantar
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Andy Kantar is the author of a trilogy of Great Lakes shipwreck books written primarily for young adults. His first book, 29 Missing, was a Michigan Notable Book for Young Adults. Black November was a finalist for the Foreword Book of the Year (YA nonfiction) and the major source for…
Debra J. Stone
Debra J. Stone is a Jerome Hill Arts Fellow in Literature 2023-25, a Minnesota State Arts Board grant recipient, and The Loft Mirrors and Windows Fellow 2023. The University of Minnesota Press has published her debut novel, The House on Rondo. Stone resides in Minneapolis with her husband and dog Ruby, an ACD Red Heeler.
M.E. Bakos
M.E. Bakos has published several short stories in national women’s magazines. Her love of mysteries has led to writing cozies about a house flipper turned amateur sleuth. Her mystery short stories, “Carpe Diem or Murder at the Carp Fest” is in the Festival of Crime. Her second, “Perfect Storm…Perfect Murder” is in Dark Side of…
Chloe Spencer
Minnesota native Chloe Spencer (she/her) is an award-winning writer, indie gamedev, and filmmaker. She is the author of multiple sapphic horror novellas, novels, and short stories. In her spare time she enjoys playing video games, trying her best at Pilates, and cuddling with her cats. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of…
Helen Weil
Helen Weil is a poet, writer, and educator from the Chicago suburbs who loves ghost stories and love stories in equal measure. She studied Psychology and Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota and went on to earn an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education. Her poems and short stories have appeared in the Dalliances Anthology,…