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Derek Francis

Derek Francis is a lifelong Twin Cities resident and educator with more than 15 years of experience. He began as a high school counselor,...
Poet James Cihlar. Photo by Brad Stauffer

James Cihlar

James Cihlar is the author of The Shadowgraph, Rancho Nostalgia, and Undoing. His poetry chapbooks are A Conversation with My Imaginary Daughter, What My...
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Lindsay Stuart Hill

Lindsay Stuart Hill is a poet, educator, and freelance writer. Her first full-length poetry collection, World of Dew, won the Brittingham Prize in Poetry...
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Jennifer Gasperini

Jennifer Kimball Gasperini is a current Sun Country Airlines flight attendant and freelance writer. A South Minneapolis resident, Gasperini brings both continuity and fresh...
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Renee Gilmore

Renee Gilmore is the author of Wayfinding: A Memoir. She is a neurodivergent multi-genre writer, essayist, and poet, and she fearlessly explores the illusion...
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Linda Knebel Pruden

Linda Knebel Pruden is an author and national speaker residing in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She received her master’s degree in speech/language pathology from Purdue...
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Obasesam Okoi

Dr. Obasesam Okoi is Associate Professor of Justice and Peace Studies, co-editor of the African Security Journal, and founding director of the Artificial Intelligence...
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Jeff Olson

Jeff Olson has served as a youth hockey coach, high school hockey assistant coach, small college hockey assistant coach, and a hockey referee. He...
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Lynn Garthwaite

Lynn Garthwaite is the author of 11 books, including mysteries, non-fiction, and children’s early chapter books. She has short stories in four anthologies and...
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Angie Bailey

Angie Bailey is an author, humorist, and Gen X pop culture nerd best known for Texts from Mittens—the delightfully ridiculous text message conversations between...

Brandon Vreeman

Brandon Vreeman is a children’s picture book author who has a passion for helping kids become better people. He loves doing author visits and talking to kids about topics such as being different, being happy with yourself, bullying, and more. He also uses part of his talk to demonstrate to kids how a book is…
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Joanne Vruno

Joanne Vruno grew up in Maplewood, Minnesota, just houses away from Battle Creek Regional Park, where she spent most of her childhood days hiking and exploring. Her love for nature and the wooded parkland bordering Battle Creek created the magic of the Seasons of Elves series, just as her love for the lakes created her…
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Nancy O’Brien Wagner

Nancy O’Brien Wagner is a historian and partner at Bluestem Heritage Group, a museum consulting firm. In addition to her consulting work, she works as an independent writer. Her article “Awfully Busy these Days” about the role of Minnesota Red Cross women in France during World War I was a winner of the Solon J.…
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Claire Wahmanholm

Claire Wahmanholm received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, her MFA from the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Utah. She is the author of the chapbook Night Vision, and the full-length collections Wilder, Redmouth, and the forthcoming Meltwater. Her work has most recently appeared in,…
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Roberta Walburn

Roberta Walburn is a Minneapolis attorney who has been named among the most influential members of the legal profession in state history and recognized by the University of Minnesota for “shaping the legal landscape for the benefit of society.” Previously, she worked as a reporter for the Star Tribune and as a legislative assistant to…
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Connie Wanek

Connie Wanek lived for over a quarter century in Duluth, Minnesota. She is the author of 10 books, including Rival Gardens: New and Selected Poems. Wanek’s poems have appeared in Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and many other journals. She was named a Witter Bynner Fellow of the Library of Congress in…
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Sarah Warren

Sarah Warren is an early childhood educator who graduated from the Loft Literary Center’s Master Track apprenticeship program. Her debut picture book, Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers, was picked for the Amelia Bloomer Top Ten Book List and awarded a Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Award honor. Her most recent picture book…
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Alcina Washington-Fowler

Alcina Washington-Fowler is an American writer, Spoken-Word Poet, and performing artist. She was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and discovered her love for poetry at the age of 12. Her passion for composing and performing poetry is a gifted blessing from God. Her parents had 13 children together, and Washington-Fowler has always been joyful…
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Maya Washington

Maya Washington is an award-winning multi-hyphenate artist: writer, poet, director, narrative and documentary filmmaker (writer/director/producer), actress, creative director, visualist (photography), and arts educator. Her award-winning film, Through the Banks of the Red Cedar, about her father, Vikings football legend Gene Washington, premiered on PBS in 2022. Her memoir, Through the Banks of the Red Cedar:…
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Stephanie Watson

Stephanie Watson is the author of the picture books Behold! A Baby (a 2016 Minnesota Book Award finalist), The Wee Hours, and Best Friends in the Universe (a 2019 Minnesota Book Award finalist). Her middle-grade novels include Pencilvania (named one of the best books of 2021 by the New York Public Library), and Elvis and…
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