Featured Writers
Angela Shannon
Angela Shannon is the author of Singing the Bones Together. She has published in many anthologies including Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota, Hip Hop Speaks to Children: a celebration of poetry with a beat (a New York Times Bestseller), Beyond the Frontier: African-American Poetry for the 21st century,…
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Zaylore Stout
Zaylore Stout is an attorney, community organizer, and author. He received his B.A. in International Business Management and then his J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He founded Zaylore Stout & Associates in 2012, a law firm handling sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and wage and…
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Jill Kalz
Jill Kalz is the author of The Winter Bees: Fiction, a collection of interconnected short stories set in rural Minnesota (her current home) and a 2019 Midwest Book Award finalist. She has published stories individually in American Fiction Vol. 15 and Minnesota Monthly, and poetry in the Nebraska Review, the…
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Jennifer Fernjack
Jennifer Fernjack is an author and keynote speaker. Raised in Cloquet, MN, she currently resides in Spring Park, MN. She received her B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. Through a medical scare in 2016, she learned that courage doesn’t need to be the absence…
A.G. Mayes
A.G. Mayes is a writer, developmental editor, and parking lot striper. She grew up believing in magic and still half expects someone to show up and tell her she’s part fairy. Her Magic Pie Shop books are lighthearted, magical romances. When she’s not hanging out with her family, painting lines in parking lots, or making…
Michael Stanley
Michael Stanley is the pen name of the writing team Stanley Trollip (pictured) and Michael Sears. Their award-winning mysteries, featuring Detective Kubu, are set in Botswana. Death of the Mantis was an Edgar finalist and Deadly Harvest was an International Thriller Writers award finalist. The eighth Detective Kubu mystery, A Deadly Covenant, will be released…
Crown Shepherd
Crown Shepherd is an author and reading advocate. She has dedicated her life to closing the illiteracy rate within the Black community. Shepherd believes if you can read, you can learn, if you can learn, you can grow, and if you can grow, you can be anything!
Michael Tisserand
Michael Tisserand’s books include the Eisner Award-winning biography Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, an exploration of the “Krazy Kat” cartoonist and his life on the American color line. Other books include the ASCAP-Deems Taylor-winning The Kingdom of Zydeco, the Hurricane Katrina memoir Sugarcane Academy, and My Father When Young, a self-published…
Naomi Hughes
Naomi Hughes writes quirky young adult sci-fi and fantasy, usually featuring monsters and mental health representation. Her novels include Refraction, which was described by Kirkus Reviews as “a wild, fast-paced ride full of unexpected turns,” and “Afterimage,” which School Library Journal said “deserves a prominent place on sci-fi shelves.” Hughes is a longtime Midwesterner but…
Hampton Smith
Hampton Smith is an independent researcher and writer with a specialty in mid-19th century America and Minnesota History. He was a reference librarian for the Minnesota Historical Society from 1983 to 2015.
Ranae Lenor Hanson
In her writing, Ranae Lenor Hanson weaves a path through the landscapes and communities of Minnesota that have informed her life and vision. In northern Minnesota, she learned an earth-based ethic like that of the Ojibwe people on whose land she grew up. After earning a Ph.D. in cross-cultural education, she taught writing and global…
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 currently live in Minnesota and have your work published in book form, you can apply to be listed. (Before applying, please read the Eligibility Criteria to see if you are eligible for listing.) We will contact you after we’ve reviewed your application.
Criteria for all applicants
- You must live and work in Minnesota. If you live in Minnesota for part of the year, please outline your availability in your application. You will be accepted at the discretion of the Minnesota Center for the Book.
- You must be willing to 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.)
- You must be willing to have your location in Minnesota (county only) listed in the directory.