The Loft Literary Center September events calendar

LONELY ARTS: CREATIVE NONFICTION
Thursday, September 8, 6 p.m.
$15 (Loft members $13.50)
Located at Urban Growler
In this new event series, The Loft Literary Center and Hazel & Wren repurpose the form of speed dating to help writers find what they really need—a good critique partner. The energy will be high, the mood will be light, and the talk will be heady—an evening of conversation and craft to remember. The September edition will be for writers of creative nonfiction (memoir, essays, narrative nonfiction).

Before the dating starts, hitch up with Hazel & Wren for a short-order activity to break the ice and get the creative juices flowing. Then prepare to meet your match in an hour led by Joey McGarvey! Participants will connect in short, one-on-one sessions, guided by questions and prompts that will allow them to rapidly plumb each other’s literary interests, influences, and inspirations. The energy will be high, the mood will be light, and the talk will be heady—an evening of conversation and craft to remember.

Admission includes one beer (or N/A drink) and light snacks from Urban Growler.

NODIN PRESS BOOK LAUNCH WITH EMILIE BUCHWALD
Friday, September 16, 7 p.m.
The Loft Literary Center Proudly Presents a Nodin Press Launch with Emilie Buchwald, author of the new collection The Moment’s Only Moment.

Emilie Buchwald’s poems have been published in Harper’s, American Scholar, Kenyon Review,Great River Review, The Lyric (winner, Lyric Memorial Prize), When Women Look at Men (anthology), among others. She edited The Poetry Society of America’s Wallace Stevens Centenary Celebration publication and is the coeditor of three poetry anthologies. Buchwald was the founding copublisher and editor of Milkweed Chronicle and Milkweed Editions. She is the founding publisher and editor of The Gryphon Press, now in its tenth year. Her awards include the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award and the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award.

AS CURATED BY: LATINX WRITERS
Thursday, September 22, 7 p.m. &
Friday, September 23, 7 p.m. 
Writer and teacher Vanessa Ramos curates two powerful nights of Latinx authors. Featured writers to be announced.

EQUILIBRIUM: LATINO VOICES
Saturday, September 24, 8:00 p.m.
The Loft’s Equilibrium & the IHRC’s Global Minnesota: Immigrants Past and Present programming presents:

Latino Voices

The Loft’s Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship winners Bolin Jue and Allyson Jeffredo conducted a year long project comprised of weekly creative writing and arts workshops at Salinas Elementary School—a primarily Latino/a and Chicano/a serving institution in an economically disadvantaged area. They will speak briefly about their project, read poems, and perform along with multidisciplinary writer Isabel Quintero.

They will be joined by Palabristas who have conducted spoken word workshops with with migrant/Latinx communities in the Twin Cities. Two participants will perform. A post-show discussion will be moderated by Dr. Bianet Castellanos, an American Studies professor at the University of Minnesota.

This Loft Equilibrium is cosponsored by the Immigration History Research Center and is a part of the Global Minnesota: Immigrants Past and Present series of programming.

*****

Bolin Jue y Allyson Jeffredo, ganadores de la beca de Inmersión de la Palabra Viva, dirigieron un proyecto de un año que involucraba talleres semanales de escritura y arte en la escuela de primaria Salinas, una institución enfocada en ayudar Latino/a y Chicano/a que viven en una área económicamente desventajada. Ellos hablaran brevemente sobre su proyecto y leerán poemas.

Ellos serán acompañados por Palabristas, quienes dirigirán un taller de palabra hablada con  la población de trabajadores migrante encontrada en Owatanna, MN y ofrecerán 2 presentaciones para los participantes. Después de las presentaciones habrá discusiones moderadas por Bianet Castellanos, profesora del departamento de American Studies en la Universidad de Minnesota.

La serie de Equilibrio es auspiciada por el Centro de Investigación Inmigratorio y es parte de la serie de programación llamada Global Minnesota: Inmigrantes de Ahora y el Pasado.

AS CURATED BY: FINDING YOUR BONES
Friday, September 30, 7 p.m.
Celebrate the publication of House of Fire: A Story of Love, Courage, and Transformation, a touching and provocative memoir from author, educator, and incest survivor Elizabeth di Grazia. Elizabeth will be joined by award-winning writers Christine Stark, R. Vincent Moniz Jr., and Keno Evol for a powerful evening of stories of survival, transformational poetry, and bare bones honesty. A wine and appetizer book signing reception will follow the readings.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Elizabeth di Grazia is the author of House of Fire: A Story of Love, Courage, and Transformation, a memoir about her triumph over neglect, incest, and childhood trauma. Recipient of a Jerome Travel and Study Grant and participant in the Minnesota Loft Mentor Series, she is a founder of WordSisters, a shared blog (wordsisters.wordpress.com). Her work has been anthologized in Illness and Grace/Terror and Transformation and Families: Front Line of Pluralism. She has published prose in Adoptive Families Magazine, Minnesota Parent, Adagio Verse Quarterly, Edge Life, and elsewhere. (See the attached book announcement for more about House of Fire.)

Writer, visual artist, and organizer, Christine Stark’s first novel, Nickels: A Tale of Dissociation, was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her writing has appeared in periodicals and books, including Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prize-Winning Essays; When We Become Weavers: Queer Female Poets on the Midwestern Experience; The Florida Review, and many others. A Loft Mentor Series winner, Chris is currently completing her second novel and conducting research for a non-fiction book.

Keno Evol is a blogger for Revolution News, an international group of independent journalists, photographers, artists, translators, and activists reporting on international news with a focus on human rights. Poet, essayist, spoken word performer, and educator, Keno is the board chair of the Youth Advisory Board for TruArtSpeaks, a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating literacy, leadership and social justice through Hip Hop. His work has been published in Poetry Behind the Walls, Gazillion Voices Magazine, Black Girl In Om, and elsewhere.

An active force in the Twin Cities artistic community, R. Vincent Moniz Jr. has received numerous literary awards and fellowships for his writing and live performances. Reigning champion for the Two River Memorial Indigenous Spoken Word SLAM World competition, he has performed spoken word at Equilibrium: Spoken Word at the Loft, Intermedia Arts, Pangea World Theater, and elsewhere. An enrolled citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes located within North Dakota on Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation, he was raised in the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis.

Incorporated in 1975, The Loft Literary Center is one of the nation’s leading independent literary centers. The Loft advances the artistic development of writers, fosters a thriving literary community, and inspires a passion for literature.