CENTRAL CORRIDOR VOICES | University Ave: A poem

By Loren Niemi, Saint Paul Almanac

Photo by Diego Vazquez Jr.

“Pho all the way around,”
The leather jacket boy says
While the girls compare nail polish.

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CENTRAL CORRIDOR VOICES | River prayer: A poem

By Linda Back McKay, Saint Paul Almanac

Photo by Diego Vazquez Jr.

The old man was not really in a rowboat
under the Mississippi River bridge.
He was in the process of turning
inside himself, as we all will do one day.

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Moms are always loyal

By Muzamil Yahya, Minnesota Literacy Council

Muzamil Yahya is a learner from the Minneapolis Adult Education program. This excerpt is taken from the Minnesota Literacy Council's annual reading by adult learners held on May 30, 2012 in collaboration with the Loft Literary Center. The event featured the stories of adult literacy students enrolled in English as a Second Language, GED, reading and other classes. Several of the readers were authors featured in the book Journeys: An Anthology of Adult Student Writings. Some are immigrants or refugees writing in their second or third language, while others shared their writing for the first time after years of frustration and anxiety attributed to low literacy skills. For more information or to order a copy of the book, visit mnliteracy.org.

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Minnesota Literacy Council

VIDEO | Ka Vang reads from "Shoua and the Northern Lights Dragon"

By Ben Zvan, TC Daily Planet

Author Ka Vang reads from her book Shoua and the Northern Lights Dragon, created and published as a part of the the Reading Together Project through the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Council for Asian Pacific Minnesotans.

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No "vanity": Minnesota authors say self-publishing offers rewards despite the challenges

By Jay Gabler, Front Row Seat

Ebony Adedayo, self-published author of Dancing on Hot Coals. Photo by Criquet Photography, courtesy Ebony Adedayo.

When Minneapolis author D.R. Martin, 61, first tried to find a literary agent, in the 1990s, he didn’t succeed—“but in those days, even when you were rejected you’d get a constructive response saying what they didn’t like and what they did.” Then he tried again, recently. “I submitted to over 50 agents by e-mail. I got 25 form rejections, and 25 non-responses. Not a single personalized response out of 50. I thought, I am not going to get through these gatekeepers. If I’m going to make anything happen, I’m going to have to do it myself.”

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Readers look to spirited romance for literary love?

By Mary Treacy, Poking Around

“The brain may die, but my compulsion for useless trivia lives on.”

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Poking Around

Artists resurrect Lao mythology

By Staff, Asian American Press

When asked about his forthcoming book, Lao American writer Bryan Thao Worra recently replied, “I wanted to work with the acclaimed Lao American artist Vongduane Manivong to rebuild an appreciation

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How Mrs. Claus saved Christmas

By Patrice Johnson, Cultural Construct

There are those who pull down their Christmas decorations as soon as the clock strikes 12 AM December 26. There are some, I am told, who keep their tree up until Easter. I am the sort who keeps the tree up until at least Julgransplundring, which is conveniently right before my birthday. In honor of the continuing holidays, I present to you one of the most precious gifts my family ever received. How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas is a story my mother read to us five sisters every Christmas Eve after Mass, before bedtime. I wrote about it here a few years ago. If I close my eyes I can still hear Mom's voice imitating Santa and Mrs. Claus. I remember stifling tears when the children receive presents they'd always wished for but that they thought Santa didn't know about. I wanted Mom to read each page slowly, so that I had time to absorb the mesmerizing illustrations.

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Cultural Construct

"Black Hippie" David Daniels comes back with a tale of "Cancer, Love, Peace and Assorted Realities"

By Dwight Hobbes, Sounding Off On Sound

Courtesy David Daniels

When spoken-word-artist/playwright/actor David Daniels told me a couple or so years ago that he was going to retire, I took the news with considerable disappointment. After all, the infamous and beloved Rasta Bard is truly is one of a kind.

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CENTRAL CORRIDOR VOICES | "April," a poem

By Diego Vázquez, Jr., Saint Paul Almanac

Photo by Diego Vázquez, Jr.

nature abhors
taxation
as does the
populace

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