Literary Bridges hosts Hamline University creative writers reading their work, Feb. 5th, 2:00-
3:30, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 Snelling Ave South, St, Paul, MN. Many of the students and
alum worked with The Fulcrum Journal, created in 1995 to represent the balance between the
literary and visual art communities at Hamline, showcasing the diverse voices of undergraduate
students with their annual publication. (To order their 21-22 issue, Pleasure Fruit, email
fulcrumjournal@hamline.edu.) Co-host Donna Isaac states, "We celebrate Hamline University
for its fine creative writing programs, teachers, and publications; these writers are just a cross-
section of the wonderful work that H.U. does right down the street from Next Chapter."

Bios for Readers:

Ruqa Martins, a Hamline senior and past Fulcrum contributor, is an English major with a sociology minor. She views poetry as not only an art form but also a way to heal. She unpacks her poems to better understand herself, trauma, and healing, talking about intersectionality, racism, and misogynoir. She hopes her work touches other people like her.

Elena Laskowski is a student studying creative writing and English at Hamline University. She is
also the literature editor for Hamline's journal, Fulcrum. She mainly writes poetry and fiction
and recently published a story in the horror webzine Dark Recesses. In 2021, she and her father
Geoff self-published a collection of her poems and his photographs titled Inheritance.

Austin Malberg is a current senior at Hamline University, studying creative writing and
psychology. Her poems have previously been published in the Fulcrum Journal, and Hamline
awarded her the 2020 George Henry Bridgeman Poetry Prize; the 2021 Evelyn Apitz Morris
Award; and the Eliza A. Drew Prize for best short story. She loves to read, make arts and crafts,
and mail letters to friends and family. 

Arielle Newfield is an upcoming poet born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in St. Paul. Her poetry
revolves around themes of connection and sensation using unique structure and narrative
imagery. She is the Managing Editor of the Fulcrum Journal who published her poem "History
Lesson" in their latest edition entitled Pleasure Fruit.

Remi Sherman, born and raised in southern Minnesota, has flocked to stories all her life. She
graduated from Hamline in 2022 with a B.A. in creative writing. An author/poet/romantic, Remi
puts her love for human connection into her writing, often exploring the heaviness of mental
health and self-discovery. She works in hospitality but hopes to become an editor while working
on future novels or chapbooks.

Tara Westerlund lives in St. Paul and is an alumna of Hamline where she studied English with a
concentration in creative writing and legal studies. She is a youth worker and on-call shelter
advocate at a local non-profit. She also coaches lacrosse for St. Paul high school girls and for
Homegrown Lacrosse. Tara enjoys bouldering, yoga, and Pilates and loves reading literary
fiction, romance, and magical realism. She started writing poetry in grade school and takes
pleasure in capturing, distilling, and crystallizing the beautiful, the terrifying, and the mundane.