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Damone Bester

Damone Bester is a two-time award-winning author whose debut novel Mendel received both a BookFest Award and a Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Fiction....
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Dave Kenney

Dave Kenney is the author of nearly two dozen books, all historical non-fiction, covering topics ranging from World War II to the movie industry....
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Jokeda Bell

Jokeda "JoJo" Bell is the executive director and the director of exhibitions and programming for the African American Interpretive Center of Minnesota (AAICM). Her...
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Leslie Adrienne Miller

Leslie Adrienne Miller’s collections of poetry include Y, The Resurrection Trade, Eat Quite Everything You See, Yesterday Had a Man In It, Ungodliness, and...
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Michelle S. Phelps

Michelle S. Phelps is Professor of Sociology and Law at the University of Minnesota. Her research is in the sociology of punishment, focusing in...
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Jenna Miller

Jenna Miller (she/her) writes Young Adult books about fat, queer, nerdy girls who deserve to be seen and have their voices heard. When she’s...
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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....
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Cheyenne Wilson

Cheyenne Wilson, BSN, founder of We are the Evidence, is on a mission to raise awareness about the reality of sexual assault, eliminate the...
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Mubanga Kalimamukwento

Mubanga Kalimamukwento is a Zambian lawyer, writer, and editor. She is the author of Shipikisha, Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies: Poems,...
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David Nash

David Nash is an author and singer songwriter known for his warm, rhythmic, and heartfelt style. He plays in and around the Driftless Region...

Caitlin Bailey

Caitlin Bailey received an MFA from Hamline University. Her first book, Solve for Desire, won the 2017 Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2017 Minnesota Book Awards. Her poems have appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Sugar House Review, Bateau, Carolina Quarterly, and elsewhere. She lives in Saint Paul.
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Yelena Bailey

Yelena Bailey, Ph.D. is a writer, researcher, and former professor of English and cultural studies. She enjoys writing about race, power, policy, and culture. Her most recent project is How the Streets Were Made, which examines the creation of “the streets” not just as a physical, racialized space produced by segregationist policies, but also as…
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Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill is the author of four novels, most recently The Girl Who Drank the Moon, winner of the Newbery Medal. The Witch’s Boy received four starred reviews and was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards. Barnhill has been awarded writing fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and The McKnight…
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Jokeda Bell

Jokeda “JoJo” Bell is the executive director and the director of exhibitions and programming for the African American Interpretive Center of Minnesota (AAICM). Her roles in the organization have led to collaborative programming with the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. She has also appeared as an expert in the Minnesota…
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Damone Bester

Damone Bester is a two-time award-winning author whose debut novel Mendel received both a BookFest Award and a Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Fiction. His highly anticipated sequel, Blue Smoke Rises, releases in 2026. Known for bold storytelling that blends emotional depth with social insight, Bester teaches writers how to develop authentic voice, build compelling…
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Sara Biren

Sara Biren is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is a content and social media manager for a Minneapolis marketing firm and offers freelance editing and copywriting services. She lives northwest of Minneapolis with her husband and their two children.…
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Peter Bognanni

Peter Bognanni is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His debut novel, The House of Tomorrow, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction and the ALA Alex Award and was adapted into a feature film. His second novel, Things I’m Seeing Without You, was a Minnesota Book Award finalist. He teaches…
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Todd Boss

Todd Boss is a poet, librettist, public artist, and film producer. His diverse career is the result of his passion for collaboration. He is the author of three books of poetry, Yellowrocket, Pitch, and Tough Luck. His poems have appeared in Poetry, The London Times, The New Yorker, and Best American Poetry. Boss says he…
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H.M. Bouwman

H.M. Bouwman is the author of middle grade fantasy novels, most recently A Crack in the Sea and A Tear in the Ocean, as well as the Owen and Eleanor early chapter books. She lives in Saint Paul and teaches at the University of St. Thomas. Bouwman loves to speak to kids and adults about…
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Martin Case

Martin Case has researched the government signers of U.S.-Indian treaties for a dozen years. Along the way, he served on the design team for “Why Treaties Matter,” a traveling exhibit created by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, Minnesota Humanities Center, and Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. He has made presentations to educators and the…
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