Featured Writers
Emily Strasser
Emily Strasser’s first book, Half-Life of a Secret, is a deeply researched memoir that traces her journey to reckon with the toxic legacies of her grandfather’s work building nuclear weapons in the atomic city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Strasser’s work has appeared in Catapult, Ploughshares, Guernica, Colorado Review, The Bitter…
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Pete Kero
Pete Kero is an author, speaker, and environmental engineer. His work focuses on the intersection of people, industry, and the environment. Kero was the visionary behind the award-winning Redhead Mountain Bike Park in Chisholm, Minnesota which has been featured in Outside magazine and the nation-wide documentary film Biketown. His book,…
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Ty Chapman
Ty Chapman is the author of Sarah Rising, Looking For Happy, and A Door Made for Me (written with Tyler Merritt). Chapman’s forthcoming publications include multiple children’s books and a poetry collection through Button Poetry. He was a 2022 Center for Arts + Social Justice Fellow – an award that…
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Melanie Hoffert
Melanie Hoffert is the author of Prairie Silence, which won the 2014 Minnesota Book Award in Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. She has been published in several literary journals. The Baltimore Review and the New Millennium Writings each selected her work for a Creative Nonfiction Writing Award. She has taught several writing classes, including at the…
R.W. Holmen
R.W. Holmen is a former trial attorney with an eye for history and a heart for social justice. His interests include the historical context of the authors behind the Christian scriptures and twentieth-century American political history. His book, A Wretched Man, characterizes Paul the apostle (principal author of the New Testament) as a repressed gay…
Jane King Hession
Jane King Hession is an architectural historian with a special interest in 20th-century architecture and design. She earned her M.Arch from the University of Minnesota. In her writing, she strives to understand architecture within the contexts of the lives and times of its creators. Her work as a writer and archivist has been supported by…
Geoff Herbach
Geoff Herbach is the author of ten books, many for young adult audiences, including the award-winning Stupid Fast series (one of the books, Nothing Special, won the Minnesota Book Award). He focuses on writing things for kids who don’t want to read (not a great commercial choice, maybe!). When not writing, Herbach is teaching writing.…
Nancy Koester
Nancy Koester is the author of Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life and the winner of the Minnesota Book Award for General Nonfiction in 2015. American history and women’s biography are her special areas of interest. She has served as an ELCA pastor and holds both an MDiv and Ph.D. degree. She and her husband…
David Housewright
David Housewright, is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America. His first novel Penance earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America as well as a Shamus nomination from the PWA. He won three Minnesota Book Awards for Practice to Deceive, Jelly’s Gold, and Curse of the Jade Lily. Housewright…
Julie Klassen
Julie Klassen is a bestselling author of historical fiction set in “Jane Austen era” England. A graduate of the University of Illinois, she worked in publishing for 16 years and now writes full time. Three of her novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Minnesota Book Award, the…
E. Eero Johnson
E. Eero Johnson is a graphic artist from the Northern Midwest. His illustrations have appeared in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone Magazine, and Wired. His comics have been featured in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times, and Nozone. He collaborated on the Minnesota Book Award nominated hybrid novel/graphic novel Original Fake with author Kirstin…
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 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, outline your availability in your application. You will be accepted at the discretion of the Minnesota Center for the Book.
- 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. (Addresses will not be listed.)