I’m teaching a Minnesota authors class for the first time this year, and I want to make sure it’s hip and current and that it’s Duluthy. So I’m asking for help.
I want to do a brief (two-week) unit on song lyrics. I’m looking for Minnesota’s best song lyricists and their best lyrics.
Every day at FinnFest the Saami Cultural Center is presenting “The Story of Akanidi, Daughter of the Sun.” I’m super-proud of my colleagues at UMD and around the region who work with the center.
Unrelated to this exhibit, this YouTube video tells the story — consider it my attempt to whet your appetite.
Tomorrow, FinnFest starts in Duluth. It is an annual event that has been held all over the United States. According to the website, “FinnFest USA creates a broad national community involving all Finnish Americans, Finnish citizens living in America, and all Americans interested in Finland and/or Finnish America.”
While I often avoid politics in my public writings, I want to take a few minutes to explain the life of someone different from most people, in a small way, that may reveal the complexities of some recent legislation proposed at the federal level.
Judy Gibbs introduced me to The Will and the Way series of books about the creation of a number of Duluth institutions.
University of Minnesota Duluth alumni Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence spoke to students in the Writing Studies major in April. Hafdahl and Florence offered tips, tricks and profound insights into the publishing process.
Local and worldwide authors attended the celebration of the Nemadji Review. The 13th issue is titled “The 13th Floor.”
Tina Higgins Wussow, one of many local luminaries, read during the event.
Saturday, the owner of Rogue Robot Games & Comics led a free class in figure painting at the Duluth Public Library.
Saturday was National Train Day. The Depot was hopping, and I loved it. Picture of a very cool train set below.
My friend and colleague Elizabeth Nelson has donated some remarkable materials to the archives at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
The Elizabeth Nelson Peoples Temple Collection contains items relevant to the alternative religious organization founded by Jim Jones, best known for a mass suicide/murder in 1978 at its “Jonestown” settlement in Guyana.
