Poetry

Poetry writers from Minnesota.

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Mai Neng Moua

Mai Neng Moua is a writer spinning tales of what it means to be Hmong in America. Her memoir is titled The Bride Price: A Hmong Wedding Story. She is the founder of Paj Ntaub Voice, the Hmong literary arts journal where she published more than 200 artists, and the editor of Bamboo Among the…

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Michelle Matthees

Michelle Matthees is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s MFA program in Creative Writing. She has received grants and awards from The Jerome Foundation, The Minnesota State Arts Board, The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, AWP, and other arts organizations. In 2016 New Rivers Press published Flucht, her first book-length collection of poems about Eastern…

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Freya Manfred

Freya Manfred has nine collections of poetry. Her sixth collection, Swimming with a Hundred Year Old Snapping Turtle, won the 2009 Midwest Bookseller’s Choice Award for Poetry. Her ninth and most recent collection is Loon in Late November Water. A longtime Midwesterner who has lived on both coasts, her poetry has appeared in over 100…

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Raymond Luczak

Raymond Luczak is the author and editor of more than 20 books. His most recent titles include Flannelwood and Lovejets: Queer Male Poets on 200 Years of Walt Whitman. He lives in Minneapolis.

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Athena Kildegaard

Athena Kildegaard grew up in St. Peter, Minnesota, and, after having lived in Chicago, Austin TX, Oxford MS, New Orleans, and central Mexico, now lives and teaches in western Minnesota. Her poems have been set to music by Linda Kachelmeier, Libby Larsen, Jake Endres, and others. She has experience teaching people of all ages, is…

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Kristin Johnson

Kristin Johnson has won two Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grants (2013, 2015), a Mystery Writers of America Helen McCloy Award for mystery novel writing, two Loft Literary Shabo Awards for picture books (2007, 2011), and published nine books for children. She has also published numerous poems, articles, and short fiction in a variety…

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Candace Black

Candace Black grew up in southern California, often on U.S. Marine Corps bases. As a graduate student at the University of Montana, she studied with Richard Hugo and Madeline DeFrees. Her books of poetry include The Volunteer, Whereabouts, and the chapbook Casa Marina. Her nonfiction has appeared in several journals, including Pinyon, Great River Review,…

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Alison McGhee

Alison McGhee writes novels, picture books, poems, and essays for all ages. Her most loved books include the novels The Opposite of Fate, Shadow Baby, and Never Coming Back, along with Someday, the #1 New York Times bestselling picture book for adults. Her work has been translated in more than 20 languages. She also teaches…

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Lynette Reini-Grandell

Lynette Reini-Grandell is the author of Wild Verge, Approaching the Gate (winner of the 2015 Northeastern Minnesota Book Award for Poetry), and the forthcoming memoir, Wild Things: A Dark-Glam Trans Rock Love Story. Her other work has appeared in Alligator Juniper, MNArtists.org, Poetry Motel, Poetry City U.S.A., and Seminary Ridge Review, among others. She has…

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Paige Riehl

Paige Riehl is the author of the poetry collection Suspension and the poetry chapbook Blood Ties. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications such as Artful Dodge, Crab Orchard Review, Water~Stone Review, Portland Review, and Meridian. She was a finalist for the 2017 Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry and winner of the Loft Mentor…