Minnesota

WRITERS

DIRECTORY

Featured Writers

Sonja Trom Eayrs

Sonja Trom Eayrs, author of Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America, is a farmer’s daughter, rural advocate, and attorney. She is involved in several rural advocacy organizations, including the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, Farm Action, Land Stewardship Project, and Dodge County Concerned Citizens. Trom Eayrs…

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Claudia May

Claudia May, Ph.D., is a poet, educator, and an award-winning author. Her children’s book, When I Fly With Papa, received a gold medal at the 2019 Illumination Book Awards in the Enduring Light Christian Children’s Book Category, a gold medal in the Midwest Book Awards’ Religion/Philosophy/Spirituality category, and first place…

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Anne Ursu

Anne Ursu is the author of several middle grade fantasies, including Breadcrumbs, an NPR Backseat Book Club pick, and The Real Boy, which was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award. She is a recipient of the McKnight Fellowship and teaches at Hamline University’s Masters in Fine Arts in Writing…

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Vanessa Lee Christensen

Vanessa Lee Christensen graduated with an M.A. in Education & Human Development from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is daughter to an American father and Taiwanese mother and grew up in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand. As an adult, Christensen lived in Japan where she worked in education with children. She is…

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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…

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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.

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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?

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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”…

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.