Featured Writers
Varla Ventura
Varla Ventura is an author, traveler, rotten botanist, and lover of the strange. She has written several books on bizarre and freaky things, from paranormal women’s history to werewolves and banshees to plants that smell like death. She is a committed supernaturalist, folklorist, and seeker of those shadowy things that…
Keenan Jones
Keenan Jones, an author in Plymouth, Minnesota, grew up in Gary, Indiana and south suburban Chicago. Coming from a family of educators, pastors, athletes, and musicians, he shifted to education after a college basketball injury, working as an elementary teacher before returning to writing. Jones believes literacy can inspire youth…
Paula Cisewski
Paula Cisewski’s fourth poetry collection, Quitter, won the Diode Editions Book Prize. She is also the author of The Threatened Everything, Ghost Fargo (Nightboat Poetry Prize winner, selected by Franz Wright), Upon Arrival, and several chapbooks, including the lyric prose Misplaced Sinister. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from…
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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…
Jessica Litman
Jessica Litman, also known as “The Organized Mama,” is a published author and home organization expert whose work has been featured on Today.com, People.com, Better Homes & Gardens, Parents Magazine, Apartment Therapy, and The Spruce. Litman has a wide array of speaking experience, including television appearances on WGN, WCCO, Fox, ABC, and Life.Style.Live, as well…
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,…
Susan Koefod
Susan Koefod is an award-winning novelist known for her Arvo Thorson mystery series. The series debuted with Washed Up, praised by Library Journal, and includes Broken Down and Burnt Out. Escapes and Other Stories is her short story collection. Her latest novel, Albert Park: A Memoir in Lies, showcases her literary talent. Koefod has published…
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…
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…
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.