Featured Writers
Cheyenne Wilson
Cheyenne Wilson, BSN, founder of We are the Evidence, is on a mission to raise awareness about the reality of sexual assault, eliminate the stigma associated with being a victim of this violent crime, and make lasting changes in the justice and healthcare systems. Wilson earned her Bachelors in Psychology…
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Teresa Peterson
Teresa Peterson (Upper Sioux Community) is author of Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts from a Dakota Garden. She and her uncle, Super LaBatte co-authored Voices from Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stores and Storytellers. Peterson is also the author of the children’s book Grasshopper Girl, has poetry in The Racism Issue of the…
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Cristina Oxtra
Cristina Oxtra is a Filipino American children’s book author. She earned an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults at Hamline University and a B.A. in journalism. She received The Loft Literary Center’s 2019-2020 Mirrors & Windows Fellowship for indigenous writers and writers of color and is a…
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Erin Makela
Erin Makela is a writer, middle school teacher, and theater enthusiast. While she calls Worthington, Minnesota home, Makela is always looking for her next travel adventure with her stuffed alligator, Swampy. She is a graduate of Luther College and Vermont College of Fine Art’s MFA program. When choosing music to write to, her go-to playlists…
Melissa Gish
Melissa Gish is the author of dozens of juvenile nonfiction books on topics ranging from biography, history, and industry to science and nature. She is an online writing professor at a small state university.
J.M. Allen
J.M. Allen has been a resident of Rochester, Minnesota for over 30 years and enjoys writing rhyming poems. His book Real Rhyming Poems is cataloged at over 20 Minnesota libraries – maybe it is available at your local library?
Susannah Shmurak
Susannah Shmurak has written on gardening, health, and environmental topics for magazines such as Northern Gardener, Mother Earth Living, Ensia, and Sierra as well as numerous websites. Her favorite topics to cover are foraging, growing food, herbal remedies, and sustainability. She is the author of Everything Elderberry and founder of HealthyGreenSavvy.com, a website focused on…
David Breeden
Rev. David Breeden, Ph.D. is a poet, practical theologian, and former Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, a historically Humanist congregation. A long-time public intellectual, he holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a Ph.D. from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi, and an M.Div. from Meadville…
Dralandra Larkins
Dralandra Larkins is a multi-genre writer, three-time award-winning spoken word poet, and the author of Before I Lie. She is a teaching artist at COMPAS and has performed for the NAACP, Button Poetry, Mill City Museum, Minnesota State Capitol, Minnesota Black Business Ball, and the Minnesota Black Authors Expo. Larkins co-edits Cracked Walnut’s Rewilding Hope…
Joshua Moehling
Joshua Moehling is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ben Packard series. His first book, And There He Kept Her, was a Barnes & Noble monthly Mystery/Thriller pick and selected as best mystery by both Apple and Amazon editors. His second novel, Where the Dead Sleep, was described as “a well-paced whodunit” and “devastating”…
David Hakensen
David Hakensen is the author of the biography Her Place in the Woods: The Life of Helen Hoover. He is a strategic communications consultant and served as president of the Minnesota Historical Society from 2017-2023. He currently serves on the board of the Norwegian American Historical Association and served previously on boards at Norway House…
The Minnesota Writers Directory is a project of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the Minnesota Center for the Book. The Library of Congress designated The Friends as Minnesota’s Center in 2012, and in that role The Friends promotes reading, literacy, and libraries throughout Minnesota. Learn more >>
How To Get Listed on the Directory
Thanks for your interest! If you live in Minnesota and you meet the Directory Eligibility Criteria, you can apply to be listed. (Before applying, read the Eligibility Criteria.) We will contact you after we’ve reviewed your application.
All applicants:
- You must live and work in Minnesota. If you live in Minnesota for part of the year, outline your availability in your application.
- You must provide an email address for your profile. (This will not be listed on the website, but it will be used to create a unique contact form linked to your email address.)
- Your county will be listed in the directory. (Street addresses will not be listed.)
- You must meet the Eligibility Criteria. Before applying, read the Eligibility Criteria to see if you are eligible for listing. You will be accepted at the discretion of the Minnesota Center for the Book.