September 11: Literary Bridges

LITERARY BRIDGES, SEPTEMBER 11, 2022. 6TH ANNIVERSARY READING 2:00 PM
Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Avenue, St. Paul

“Come help us celebrate the anniversary of The Bridges reading series and the anniversary of the merger with Literary Lights,” says Stan Kusunoki, co-host/curator of the Literary Bridges reading series with Donna Isaac. “The merged series is going stronger than ever, and to honor the community that support it, we are featuring host/curators of other reading series in the Twin Cities. It’s a great tradition for us, and for everyone who appreciates the incredible writing community here.”

The roster includes:

Richard Terrill’s new book of essays is Essentially from Holy Cow! Press.  (www.holycowpress.org). He is the author of six previous books including What Falls Away Is Always: Poems and Conversations; Coming Late to Rachmaninoff, winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry; and Saturday Night in Baoding: A China Memoir, winner of the Associated Writing Programs Award for Nonfiction.  He is Professor Emeritus at Minnesota State, Mankato, where he was a Distinguished Faculty Scholar.  He currently works as a jazz saxophone player and co-hosts the Dave Shove Midstream Reading Series. www.richardterill.com.

Mary Jo Pehl hosts and curates the North Suburban Center for the Arts (formerly Banfill Locke) Reading Series. She has been published in magazines, websites, and numerous anthologies, including Minnesota Monthly, Salon.com, Austin Monthly, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and her commentaries have been heard on NPR's All Things Considered.  Mary Jo has appeared with the Mortified and Risk! storytelling shows, and her book, Dumb Dumb Dumb: My Mother’s Book Reviews, was published in May 2022 by Redhawk Publishing.

Tim Nolan was born in Minneapolis, graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in English, and from Columbia University in New York City with an M.F.A. in writing.  Tim is an attorney in private practice in Minneapolis.  His poems have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Nation, The New Republic, Ploughshares, and on The Writer’s Almanac and American Life in Poetry.  His three collections—The Sound of It, And Then, and The Field have all been published by New Rivers Press.  He is the host of the series Readings by Writers at the University Club in St. Paul.

Michael Kiesow Moore is the author of the poetry collections What to Pray For and The Song Castle. His work has appeared in journals such as Poetry City and Water~Stone Review, anthologies like Among the Leaves: Queer Male Poets on the Midwestern Experience and A Loving Testimony: Losing Loved Ones Lost to AIDS, and Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac.” He is the founder of the Birchbark Books Reading Series. When he is not drinking too much coffee, Michael can be found in Saint Paul dancing with The Braggarts Morris dancers.

River Maria Urke has the heart of a poet and the eyes of an artist. Her poetic writings and artistic touches reflect the principles she lives by where imperfection is beauty, nature is appreciated, and knowledge is gold. In addition, her work is heavily influenced by her battle with multiple sclerosis, and her native blood. Often, River integrates her poetry and art into one artistic piece. She is the host of a monthly literary event online, Up Close: Meet the Poet Behind the Verse. In addition, River is a ‘Poet of Place’ for the lower St Croix Valley 2022 and members of the League of MN Poets and the Mississippi Valley Poets. Check out her books and art on her website- www.rivermaria.org

Julie Martin - A poet and a public school teacher, Julie Martin lives near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. Her work has recently appeared in the following journals: The Talking Stick, Plants and Poetry, Optopia, Mothers Always Write, and Thimble Literary Magazine. With poet and artist River Urke, she co-hosts Up Close: Meet the Poet Behind the Verse, a monthly program that showcases the work of local poets in the Twin Cities. You can see more of her work on her blog,
Sphinxmothrising.blogspot.com

Rick Hilber, age 72, in retirement from careers as an English teacher and lawyer, has had a varied work life.  Writing poetry became a very serious avocation when he finished his book of poems in 2015 and then a second in 2016.  Both titles are still available for purchase from his publisher and if not otherwise on the internet: Down the Highway, a Peace (Friesen Press 2015) and In Pieces in the Plaza (Friesen Press 2016).
He currently sponsors and hosts with other poets the Birds Nest Open Mic Zoom gatherings the last Sunday of each month.  
His poems appear fairly often on Facebook on Lawless Poetry and Martin Lake Poetry Workshop pages.
He also has begun to sponsor and promote the Black Coffee Poets monthly gatherings in Saint Paul.

Frances James was born and raised in Minnesota near Lake Minnetonka. She is an artist of many trades and uses her creative passion, alongside her desire to help and inspire others, to produce meaningful poems, stories, music, and artwork. Frances is known for her ability to share honest and intimate pieces of her heart with the mission to provide hope, courage, and freedom for others to do the same. Creativity and self-expression are, and always have been, her way of persevering the human experience on this planet. Her other hobbies include: walks in nature, traveling, playing with her dog Romeo, and spending time with friends and family.
You can see her work at the following…
Website: fransartfromtheheart.com
Facebook: Fran’s Art From The Heart
Instagram: fransartfromtheheart
Blog: fransartfromtheheart.wordpress.com
YouTube Channel: Fran’s Art From The Heart.

Poet Mimi Jennings has authored two manuscripts and two chapbooks. Immaterial Girl, Poem in Four Cantos,  will be out from Bookmobile in November. Find her incantations, blues, form and free-verse, cancer and nature poems in anthologies: AAUW, Ginger Poems, Martin Lake, Saint Paul Almanac, Trotter’s, Waywiser; journals: Christian Century, Cider Press Review, Negative Capability, Persimmon Tree, Red Bird, Silkworm, Sleet, The Closed Eye Open, more. Some of her awards: current MN State Arts Board Grant, St. Catherine University Creative Work Award, firsts from: Banfill-Locke, Maria Faust Sonnet Contest two from The Bugle. A former French (in Saint Paul and Detroit), English (in France), and prison-Dharma teacher, she hosts readings, households with people from three continents.