Volume 11: On a Collected Path (2017)

Ta-coumba Aiken is a collaborative artist, educator, and community activist who has participated in the creation of more than three hundred murals and public art sculptures since 1975. His public artworks have given a visual voice to urban, rural, corporate, and nonprofit clients. He says, “I create my art to heal the hearts and souls of people and their communities by evoking a positive spirit.” Ta-coumba lives in Lowertown Saint Paul.

Cami Applequist is a Saint Paul writer and artist working in a variety of media. She draws, paints, collages, photographs, and works in 3D. Her main goal as an artist is to tell stories and work with others by leading workshops and collaborating on projects.

Carol Connolly holds the distinction of being Saint Paul’s first poet laureate, appointed in 2006 by Mayor Chris Coleman. For twenty years, she hosted the monthly Reading by Writers series at the University Club of Saint Paul. Throughout her life, Carol has been a political activist. She served on the Saint Paul Human Rights Commission for nine years, co-chaired the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus, and coordinated the Wonder Woman Foundation, an organization that recognized women over forty for heroic accomplishments. For many years she was a popular magazine columnist. She is the author of two books of poetry, All This and More (2009) and Payments Due (1985).

Mary Beth McCarthy Yarrow is a producer of social and political documentary films that serve as witness to the circumstance, history, and character of people. Beginning in 1980 with The Willmar 8, she has used this art form of storytelling to create lasting and tangible profiles of remarkable, inspirational, transformative lives. www.mccarthyfilm.com

James Zimmerman lives in the West Seventh neighborhood of Saint Paul with his three children. His writings have appeared in several issues of Saint Paul Almanac. He is the author of the book Deliverance at Hand! The Redemption of a Devout Jehovah’s Witness.

C. X. Yang lives in Saint Paul.

Aegean Yang writes, “I used to live in California, in a small farming town called Fresno. I moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota in August 08, 2008. I am a musician. I play the electric guitar. In my free time, I like to write songs, short stories, and poetry.”

Mary Virginia Winstead is a Twin Cities–based writer. She earned her BA in English from St. Catherine University, and her MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. Her memoir, Back to Mississippi: A Personal Journal Through the Events that Changed America in 1964, won the 2003 Minnesota Book Award for nonfiction. She lives in Apple Valley.

Jim Winstead is a photographer originally from Minnetonka, Minnesota, and is currently living in Los Angeles.

Diane Barott Windham is a writer who lives in Woodbury.

Jay Wilson is a resident of Saint Paul who has a heart for community and photography.

Sid Carlson White is a senior at Mounds Park Academy. Despite constant pressure from 99.9 percent of the people around him, he continues to maintain his belief that Saint Paul is better than Minneapolis and that baseball is the greatest game ever invented. He does not write as much as he should and is more at home at the ballpark or playing quiz bowl.

Clarence White is a writer, editor, typewriter poet, curator, and arts administrator. His publications are included in several editions of Saint Paul Almanac, Suisun Valley Review, Public Art Review, and Martin Lake Journal, and his essay “Smart Enough for Ford” appears in the anthology Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota. He was the co-curator of the 2016 and 2017 Banfill-Locke Reading Series and Silverwood Park’s 2014 Art on Foot. He is a past Givens Foundation Retreat Fellow. Currently, Clarence is the associate director of the East Side Freedom Library and lives in Saint Paul.

Tony Webster is a professional Twin Cities photojournalist who specializes in dance, live theater, and documentary photography. You can find his work at tonywebsterphoto.com.

Greg Watson ’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. His most recent collection is All the World at Once: New and Selected Poems. He is also co-editor with Richard Broderick of The Road by Heart: Poems of Fatherhood, published by Nodin Press.

Meyer Warren is the man. St. Paul Slim is the emcee. #TheW8OnEmptySpace is the painter. In the tradition of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Warren is his own artistic invention. In the past two years, Warren has had three solo art shows, been featured as an artist for the Made Here series #Represent, and is one of only ten artists featured on the 2016 Summer Arts Discovery Series at the Landmark Center in Saint Paul. www.StPaulSlim.com

Xiaolu Wang is a filmmaker based in Minneapolis. She speaks Mandarin Chinese, writes everything down while she can, looks at the clouds instead of her feet, and keeps the camera on at all times.

Beth L. Voigt was born outside of Chicago, but Saint Paul has always been home. This is where her heart is and her family is, and as long as they are here, she will be here, writing about them. She has published essays in local and national publications, including Saint Paul Almanac, Christian Science Monitor, Midwest Home, Minnesota Moments, Talking Stick, and Parenting.

Jens Vange has lived variously on both sides of the river for over thirty years. When not practicing architecture, he collects moments in words and pictures.

Nell Morningstar Ubbelohde writes in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. She teaches writing to college students, in community settings, and in the Minnesota state prisons. She has been published in a variety of local and national publications, and is hard at work completing a novel.

Joan Maeda Trygg would rather tell you about herself through the essays she writes, but, when pressed, will say she is a creative nonfiction writer, bookseller, and grandmother of four. She has published essays in Cheers to Muses: Contemporary Works by Asian American Women and the Journal of the Asian American Renaissance. She has an MFA from Hamline University and is, most adamantly, from Saint Paul.

Steve Trimble lives in Dayton’s Bluff on Saint Paul’s East Side and can easily walk to Indian Mounds Park. He is a trained urban historian and has published several articles and books. In the summer you can often find him tending his heirloom tomatoes.

Judith Treise grew up on the East Side of Saint Paul and now lives in Minneapolis. She is a part-time designer and editor. There is much to say in favor of our lives in 2016, but she is thankful that she grew up where and when she did. It was a marvelous beginning.

Diane Thayer teaches junior high vocal music in Iowa City, Iowa. She became acquainted with Saint Paul when her son and daughter attended two different colleges in the city. She now considers Saint Paul her adopted city and her favorite place to visit.

Justin Terlecki is an artist living and working in Saint Paul. Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, he exhibits his work regularly in the Twin Cities and is represented by Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis. He is the recipient of a Jerome Fellowship for Emerging Printmakers, which funded a series of prints inspired by his travels to India and Spain. His work appears in the permanent collection of the McDonough Museum of Art in Youngstown. Justin lives in the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative.

Michael Teffera , currently working at U.S. Bank as a financial management analyst, graduated with an MBA degree in finance at Hamline University School of Business. Michael is a member of Toastmasters. He has completed the Competent Communication, the Advance Communicator Bronze, and Competent Leadership Award in less than three years. He was a president of Energy Park Toastmaster Club for the term 2013–2014. He won first place in the Area 11 and third place in the Eastern Division Toastmasters Humorous Speech Contests. He also won second place in Area 11 Toastmasters Tall Tales. Two years ago he was nominated as U.S. Bank’s Toastmaster of the Year. Michael likes to make people laugh and he has a way to make the most ordinary things funny.

Chholing Taha is a certified Cree (nêhiyaw) First Nations artisan. Solitude and wilderness have been loyal companions throughout her lifetime. Some of her artworks are stories; these narratives find themselves with one hand holding the past, bringing new insights toward the hand holding the future. Chholing’s art is exhibited in numerous public and private collections in the United States, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, England, Brazil, and Canada.

Johnna Suihkonen teaches sixth and seventh grade language arts in Ely, outside of the BWCAW. In her free time, she enjoys rockhounding, the North Shore, traveling, live music, reading, hiking, and photography.

Mike Strand sustained a severe brain injury in 1989 in a motor vehicle accident. He has been writing the “Here and Now” column in the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance’s quarterly publication, Mind Matters, since 1999.

Debra Stone writes short stories, poetry, and essays. She lives in Robbinsdale with her husband and their German boxer, Ziggy. Currently she is writing a novel.

Patti Storm writes, “I moved to Saint Paul in January 2015 and have made this city my own. I have created so many great memories and started several new traditions. I look forward to all the exciting activities Saint Paul has to offer every month.”

Ronald Craig Spong spent his formative years in Saint Paul before his family moved to Rochester. His hometown lured him back after college, military service, and marriage, when he and Katie embarked upon raising four children in Merriam Park. Retired after forty years in public health, he writes about his experiences.

Susan Spindler has been writing poetry for many years, often using writing to understand, reflect, protest, and be in awe of the world in which we live. She is a nurse, an educator, and an avid golfer, biker, and swimmer. Her family includes two grown children and her dog, Annie.

Susan Solomon is a freelance paintress living in beautiful Saint Paul. She is the editor and founder of Sleet Magazine, an online literary journal. Susan’s first book, The Pond, a collaboration with poet Richard Jarrette, was published in 2019 with Green Writers Press.

Julia Klatt Singer is the poet in residence at Grace Nursery School. She is the co-author of Twelve Branches: Stories from Saint Paul and author of four books of poetry. Her most recent, Elemental, has audio poems at OpenKIM (openkim.org). She’s co-written songs with composers Craig Carnahan, Jocelyn Hagen, and Tim Takach.

Grant Singer is a freshman in high school. He enjoys taking pictures.

Gordon Shumaker was born and raised in Saint Paul and went to grade school, college, and law school all on the same street. He majored in English, taught high school English, and then went to law school. He worked as a Ramsey County District Court Judge and a Court of Appeals Judge, and is now retired.

Linda Shaw grew up near Saint Paul and spent lots of time there when she was young. Married with two teens and an adorable but anxiety-ridden dog, she works for a nonprofit and spends her free time at Saint Paul coffee shops, with friends, or at concerts.

Gregory Scott Chef Gregory Scott has been working in food service for nearly twenty years. He spent eleven years working in fine dining establishments before coming to the Dorothy Day Center, where he is now head chef. He manages the menus, donations, and volunteers to feed the people of Saint Paul.

Kenneth Schweiger is a Saint Paul artist who paints still life, portraits, figures, and landscapes.

Adrian Daniel Schramm has been writing and illustrating since the day his mother handed him his first crayon. He has written for publications both online and in print all across the United States. His true passion lies in fiction, and he spends most of his time toiling away tirelessly on the Great American Novel.

Eddy Samara writes, “For as long as I can remember I have been a poet, spinning lines like a web to hold myself together, to find a thread of connection with those around me. Today, I meditate with my eyes wide open, hear poetry in whispering leaves, and still believe that words can change the world. I love facilitating and participating in transformative spaces that open opportunities for people to really look at each other—to really listen—to see each other through stories and hear ourselves echo in each unique voice. I write poetry as an embodied prayer to the universe that we as a species wake up, connect, heal, remember, and love.”

Mary Kay Rummel ’s ninth poetry book, Nocturnes: Between Flesh and Stone, has been recently published by Blue Light Press of San Francisco. Her first book, This Body She’s Entered, won a Minnesota Voices Award from New Rivers Press. The Lifeline Trembles won the Blue Light Award from Blue Light Press and Love in the End was a chapbook award winner from Bright Hill Press. Many of her poems have appeared in St. Paul Almanac. Mary Kay has read her poems in many venues in the US, England and Ireland. She was born in St. Paul and grew up in the West Seventh neighborhood. She lives, now, in Fridley and is retired from UMD. She is also Poet Laureate emerita of Ventura County, CA and spends part of each year with family in California.

Ernesto Ruiz was born in Puerto Rico and attended the graduate program at the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota. He has lived in the Twin Cities since 1996, where he practiced architecture and taught design studios at the University of Minnesota. His other hobbies include reading, ballroom and salsa dancing, and boating on the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers.

Sherry Roberts is the author of Down Dog Diary, a Minnesota mystery with a yoga spin, and Book of Mercy, a funny story about a serious issue: book banning. She spends way too much time watching eagles, crows, and any wildlife that crosses her backyard or online path.

Janice Quick remembers a wonderfully sunny day in 1960 when she and a playmate purchased their first-ever blue popsicles at a Phalen Park refreshment stand. She leads cemetery art tours and local history hikes.

Yvonne Pearson ‘s poetry has appeared previously in the Saint Paul Almanac, as well as in other journals and magazines, including Amethyst and Agate: Poems of Lake Superior, Main Street Rag, Chrysalis Reader, Wolf Head Quarterly, Open to Interpretation, Sidewalks, Literary Mama, and Sing Heavenly Muse! Transformations. She is the recipient of a Loft Creative Nonfiction Award, the Shabo Award in children’s literature, and a Minnesota State Arts Board grant.

DeAnne L Parks is a painter, sculptor, writer, and speaker who builds the occasional giant puppet. Her work is published and collected internationally. She resides in Saint Paul’s West End with her husband, their dog, and a ridiculous number of garter snakes.

Gordy Palzer is a lifelong resident of Saint Paul who grew up in the West Seventh area and now lives in Highland Park. His lifelong writing odyssey has taught him that the older he gets, the more clearly he sees the extraordinary in the ordinary!

Marty Owings has been drawing pictures for as long as he can remember and took up painting during the twentieth century. He draws and paints all kinds of subject matter, including architecture, landscapes, and portraits. His work has been featured in many galleries in Minnesota, from the Edina Art Center to the Stillwater Art Gallery.

Patricia Olson was born in Minneapolis and earned a BA in studio art at Macalester College (1973), where she studied with painter Jerry Rudquist. She received an MFA in Visual Studies from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1998). She is a founding member of WARM, the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (1975).

Michael E. Murphy is retired after a thirty-year career in international business law at Medtronic and the Faegre law firm in Minneapolis. Before he became a lawyer, Mr. Murphy taught English at St. Olaf and Macalester colleges. In retirement, he has been teaching a seminar on The Law in Literature at the University of St. Thomas Law School and writing poetry.

Sandy’Ci Moua , according to the Pioneer Press, “wears many hats.” A community organizer, actor, shaman-in-limbo, and aunt to over twenty-five nieces and nephews, she enjoys creating her neighborhood toy library where kids can use jump ropes, chalk, games, and more. She loves being a Frogtown and Eastside girl and enjoys pho noodle soup on ninety-eight-degree summer days.

Patrick Moran says he and his wife moved to Minnesota four years ago and have absolutely fallen in love with the state and the Twin Cities!

Michael Kiesow Moore is the author of the poetry collection What to Pray For. His work has appeared in several books and journals, including Among the Leaves: Queer Male Poets on the Midwestern Experience, Water~Stone Review, and the Saint Paul Almanac. He serves as cocurator of the Birchbark Books Reading Series and lives in Saint Paul.

David Mendez is a writer from Saint Paul’s West Side working in education and in the community. He draws upon his blue-collar roots and Chicano experience in his works. He hopes to inspire others to take up the pen and share their stories.

Marianne McNamara , Saint Paul native is a proud grandmother of two and can usually be found hanging out with one or both of her little grand-girls. She loves learning something new every day and, if asked, will tell you grandchildren and discovery make her days rewarding!

Sean McLaughlin , MFA Columbia, is a Lowertown artist and writer who journals his devotion to myth and the common object in intimate drawings, large-scale paintings, amulets, essays, and short stories. He has shown with John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, Cindy Sherman, Richard Serra, Paul Rotterdam, and Sue Coe.

Ethna McKiernan is a Minnesota poet with Irish roots. Her most recent book is Swimming with Shadows (2019), published by Salmon Poetry in Ireland. Her first book, Caravan, was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. McKiernan holds an MFA in writing from Warren Wilson College and has received two Minnesota State Arts Board poetry grants. She works for a nonprofit serving the Minneapolis homeless population.

Linda Back McKay is a poet, author, teaching artist, and writing coach who grew up talking to oak trees. She lives with David McKay between two bridges in Minneapolis where she can gaze across the river to her homeland in Saint Paul.

David Mather is a writer, archaeologist, and gardener. He and his family enjoy life on Saint Paul’s West Side. His illustrated picture book, Frog in the House, takes place in Saint Paul and received the 2016 Giverny Award for science writing for children.

Peter J. Markham says he works as a system engineer by day, but “by night I’m a husband, a father, a photography lover, and a lover of animals.” He lives in Loretto, Minnesota. www.minnesotageek.net

David Lyndale grew up in Michigan, where at a young age he began writing about the world around him. He eventually left snowy Michigan for the warmer sunny climate of Minneapolis. He is the author of the novel Watertown Fires.

Brittany “Miss Brit” Lynch is a Twin Cities–based poet, TV/radio personality, actress, entrepreneur, creative consultant, and community organizer. Working interdependently between media, art, curation, and social justice, she has emerged as a tastemaker for the local entertainment scene. For more info, visit HeyMissBrit.com.

Paisley Luna is a high school student at Visitation School. She loves taking photos of Saint Paul for her photography class.

Chia “Chilli” Lor is Saint Paul raised and graduated from St. Catherine University. She sees herself as an artist organizer, with writing themes revolving around identity, racial justice, and youth empowerment. She has been invited to perform at open mics, reading series, rallies, conferences, and a variety of community events.

Amanda Linder dislikes the scrutiny of strangers.

Rachel Limon writes, “My artwork is very diverse, and I utilize a multitude of mediums such as photography, jewelry, pottery, beadwork, sewing, watercolor and acrylic painting to express my inner creativity. The focus of my work is on the beauty and intrigue of the present moment. I try to capture rare moments in time as they unveil themselves with the hope to share and enlighten these reflective moments. My work is influenced by my love of family and nature.”

Annika Leiknes works in an intuitive yet strategic manner so her geodesic abstract paintings come to life. She uses acrylic, mixed media, and bold watercolor. The focal point of her paintings lies in the movement. Radial loops of outgoing color emerge from dark surfaces intentionally leading the eye through its path and back again. These are emotions and experiences expelled, something she believes we can all see, remember, and feel.

Ashley Lee is twenty-one years old, born and raised on the East Side of Saint Paul. Recently she moved to Oakdale, but it’s a thirty-second drive to Saint Paul from her new home. She enjoys writing and eating!

Hlee Lee-Kron is a Twin Cities entrepreneur, photographer, communications professional, and organizational guru with a zeal for telling community-based stories with a global twist. She launched the other media group (omg) out of community need. Hlee has a passion for bringing people of all backgrounds together and celebrating our lives through storytelling.

Christopher David Lear is a writer, storyteller, and zen clown. Anxious by birth and mirthful by practice, Christopher writes and performs to show folks the joy in life and convince them (and himself) that no trouble exists that cannot be overcome with a sufficient amount of imagination.

Kevin Lariva has always moved around and never quite liked writing. His girlfriend, Leilani, has always had this idea that one thing or person can be your inspiration, and she’s his inspiration. He feels like he’s home with her and enjoys writing with her in mind.

Sarah Koper writes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Her poem “Moonwalker” is engraved on a sculpture located at St. Cloud State University. “Baseball Bits #2” was published in A View from the Loft (2001). “Searching for Answers” was selected for Hazelden’s Conference on Arts and Healing. Her first book is Potholes: A Collection of Poems, Quotes & Cameos (2008), which is available at the-liberal-prude.com. Her work has previously appeared in Saint Paul Almanac.

Susan Koefod lives across the street from Saint Paul. She is the author of a mystery series and a young adult novel, and she has widely published poetry and prose in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Revolver, Talking Stick, Saint Paul Almanac, Minnetonka Review, Midway Journal, Tattoo Highway, Lief Magazine, and other online and print literary journals. She is a
McKnight Fellowship for Writers recipient.

Barry Kleider is a teaching artist and photographer. He uses art and art making to build self-awareness and strengthen communities. He lives and works in Minneapolis. On a good day, we get to see ourselves and the world in a new light.

Danny Klecko (McGleno) has been baking bread for Saint Paul for three decades. The CEO of Saint Agnes Bakery, he lives with Russian supermodel Sue McGleno in stately Klecko Manor on Summit Avenue. He has over eighty tattoos and loves Saint Paul’s people with all his heart and soul.

Patricia Kirkpatrick is the author of Century’s Road and Odessa, awarded a 2013 Minnesota Book Award in Poetry. She works as an editor and has taught writing at Hamline University, Macalester, the University of Minnesota, and Saint Paul Public Schools. Her new poetry book, Blood Moon, will be published by Milkweed in 2019.

Jamie Kalvestran an accomplished product designer, published illustrator, with three design patents to her name, brings her inspirational designs into textile, quilting, home fashions, sporting goods, and personal accessories. She is also a painter and former resident of Saint Paul’s Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative.

Christina Joyce often seeks writing inspiration in other parts of the world but finds her richest material comes from right here in Saint Paul, where she grew up.

Barbara Jones was born in Saint Paul sixty-three years ago and lives there still. A graduate of the University of Minnesota and William Mitchell College of Law, she is the editor of Minnesota Lawyer newspaper.

Paul Jackson writes, “My ancestors came from Sweden to Minnesota between 1852 and 1889. When I walk to Como Park and around the lake, I imagine my great-great-grandparents, my great-grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents once walking there and enjoying the lily ponds.”

Donna Isaac is a poet and teacher who has published a poetry book, Footfalls (Pocahontas Press), and two chapbooks, Tommy (Red Dragonfly Press) and Holy Comforter (Red Bird Chapbooks). Her poetry appears in various literary magazines. She works as a teaching artist throughout the Twin Cities and helps organize community poetry readings. Find out more at donnaisaacpoet.com.

Kai Hsu is an aspiring writer. When he is not writing, he can be found playing basketball or reading one of many books he has started but not finished.

Sunny Hilden is a singer, musician, and songwriter who has written for Ray Charles, Sting, Patti LaBelle, The Temptations, Yolanda Adams, David Archuleta, Disney, TV, and film. She visits her childhood’s beloved Mac-Groveland neighborhood often to see family and friends, and to marvel at the snow and lilacs. sunnyhilden.com

Kevin Hershey is a Saint Paul native and former community editor with the Saint Paul Almanac. He lives in New York City, where he works in Early Childhood Education.

Judy Hawkinson lives in Saint Paul, where she and her husband raised their three children. She enjoys writing, photography, hiking, and spending time with her family and friends.

Margaret Hasse is a poet, teacher, and editor of other poets’ work. Her fifth book of poetry, Between Us, won the poetry prize of the Midwest Independent Publishers Association.

Janet Lunder Hanafin grew up on a South Dakota farm, transplanted herself to Saint Paul for college, and grew deep roots. Her writing has appeared in local and metro-wide publications. She and her husband have two children and five grandchildren (all above average) and enjoy the companionship of two very fine cats.

Chad Hambright is a multidisciplinary artist who specializes in painting and illustration. He lives and works out of his artist loft near CHS Field.

Carla Hagen lives, writes, and bicycles in Saint Paul, where she is revising her second novel. She loves open-water swimming, good coffee, and languages of all kinds.

Peg Guilfoyle lives in downtown Saint Paul. She is the author of several theater books, including a Guthrie Theater history, and two volumes of genealogy, and she is working on a new book for 2020. Her company, Peg Projects, produces books on commission for private and corporate clients. Peg has been a stage and production manager and an arts manager, and she has an active civic and church volunteer life.

Isadora Gruye is a writer and photographer living in Minnesota. She believes in cartographers and beekeepers but has little need for maps or honey. She is the editor and co-founder of Nice Cage literary magazine, and her work has appeared in many places in the tactile and virtual world. Her poetry collection The Ladies’ Guide to the Apocalypse was published in October 2019.

Meg Grove is the daughter and granddaughter of Saint Paul natives who found her way to town nearly thirty years ago. She lives in the MacGroveland neighborhood, where, finally, she is no longer considered the newcomer.

Georgia Greeley lives and works in Saint Paul. Her passion for combining words and images shows up as fine press broadsides, handmade artist’s books, and limited-edition fine press books. She has an MFA in writing from Hamline University and a BA in English and Art from St. Catherine University.

Willis Gilliard is a photographer born and raised in Saint Paul.

Josephine Geiger lives in Saint Paul with her dog and a pond full of (sometimes frozen) goldfish. She creates geometric and slightly abstract landscape mosaics crafted in traditional leaded stained glass with copper and sometimes fused elements.

Michael K. Gause was born in Tennessee while The Beatles were still together. He visited Minnesota in 1995 and never went back. His writing can be found in print and online. His piece “The Sentinel” was published in Volume 2 of Saint Paul Almanac.

Marla Gamble is best known as a custom jeweler who creates one-of-a-kind pieces in gold and gemstones. Working with individuals to create their most powerful jewelry has been an extremely rewarding business for her for over thirty-five years. To balance the technical aspects of jewelry design, Marla paints in both oil and watercolor. She has taught all three mediums both in schools and privately.

Pierre Fulford , aka Pierre The Poet, not only seeks to promote peace for himself but for all of humanity, and art is his weapon of choice. A native of Saint Paul, he is greatly inspired by the life and works of Jesus Christ, Tupac, and Malcolm X.

Tom French Poet of County Meath, Ireland, received the twentieth annual Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry from the University of St. Thomas Center for Irish Studies.

Mary Helen McHugh Franze is from Minnesota, lived out West, and has traveled three continents. Her first official “reject letter” for a writing submission was from the New York Times. Additional passions: singing, music, dancing, cooking, gardening, biking, swimming, skiing, nature, youth advocacy, being a mom, and friends.

Barbara Evan is a Saint Paul artist with a BA in Fine Art from the University of Minnesota and a BA in English from the University of South Dakota. She specializes in painting and drawing.

Adalinda Estrada drives a motorcycle as old as she is, and she has a dog named Batman and a daughter that has more energy than all three put together. She works as a school-based therapist and writes to remind herself that the healing lies in the stories we hold.

Mike Elliott grew up in West Saint Paul and has had homes on Saint Paul’s West Side and in Maplewood. He now resides “Up North” on the lake near Jacobson, Minnesota, where he is planning his twenty-eighth annual canoe trip to the BWCAW. In the summer, he enjoys teaching his young grandchildren how to jump off the dock, paddle his canoe, and catch bluegills. The only ashes under his big cedar are from his former dog Scooter.

Diane Edwards treads water (and snow) in the land of 10,000 lakes. She loves libraries and kids and dogs and books and walleye and people who can riff. She lives in a tragically old house that needs repairs approximately every ten minutes. The people that know her best report that her brain is a cartoon. She talks about anvils too much.

Anita Dualeh is a freelance writer, educational consultant, and coordinator of the Alphabet Forest at the Minnesota State Fair. She lives in Saint Paul with her husband and two sons. She blogs at 1stteacher.wordpress.com.

Aria Dominguez was born and grew up in Saint Paul and now lives in Minneapolis with her son. Though she has not lived in Saint Paul for a long time, it is the thread forming the fabric of so many memories, and the foundation of who she became.

Norita Dittberner-Jax has published five collections of poetry, most recently Crossing the Waters (Nodin Press, 2017), winner of the Midwest Book Award in Poetry, and Now I Live Among Old Trees (Nodin Press, 2020). Norita has won other awards for her work, including several nominations for the Pushcart Prize. A poetry editor for Red Bird Chapbooks, she lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Louis DiSanto worked as a keeper at Saint Paul’s Como Zoo for over twenty years before retiring in 2005. He was also a photographer/reporter for the weekly Saint Paul Sun and an information specialist for the City of Saint Paul. His interests include classical music, sports, writing children’s stories, and getting together with friends. Louis is honored to be one of the winners of the 2011 Saint Paul Sidewalk Poetry Contest.

John Dingley After years of adventures and collecting stories, has taken up writing between the many forays into executing his other trade, stonemasonry. He is well on his way into a series of at least five books for children, actually for all ages, called The Timeless Cavern. He will also be publishing shortly a nonfiction work, “Hard Work in Paradise—When all Our Food and Lives Were Organic.

Brittany Dexter is a writer and photographer who currently lives across the river (gasp!) in Minneapolis but misses the character and quiet of Saint Paul nearly every day.

Sharon DeMark fell in love with Saint Paul the first time she visited Minnesota. She now lives and works in the city. Sharon’s works have been exhibited as part of Poetry in the Park in the Dark, at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and in the 2017 Saint Paul Almanac.

Juliette Cuzey is a photographer currently residing in Toulouse, France.

Angela Davis is a local artist born and raised in Minneapolis. She is mainly an acrylic painter but loves taking photos too.

Tessa Danielson is a soon-to-be-graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From Saint Paul, Tessa says all of her best memories from childhood are rooted in the Saint Paul culture.

Athena Currier is a book designer by day, cartoonist and illustrator by night. However, the one thing she really likes to draw is maps! Her comics and essays appear regularly on her website, The Marjorie. Athena’s work has appeared in various publications, including City Pages, Sunoikisis, the Daily Cross Hatch, and Broken Pencil Magazine. She has an MFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she was a Dean’s Fellowship recipient.

Dean Croshere is a photographer who is currently living in Thailand.

Nancy Cox is a singer and teacher of singing. She has traveled widely on concert tours and performs as a soloist throughout the Twin Cities. Her poems have appeared in a number of small press publications, including Milkweed Editions, Loonfeather, Sidewalks, and Kansas Quarterly. She lives in Minneapolis.

Deborah Costandine loves Saint Paul and all its nooks and crannies.

Bill Cosgrove is a dedicated reader and writer, retired year-round biker, avid if not fanatical tennis player, and incorrigible do-it-yourselfer. He remains unrepentant in these commitments. He also conducts origami workshops as Professor Origami and is a longtime impersonator of Mark Twain in his one-man show “An Evening with Mark Twain: The Trouble Begins at Eight.”

Maryann Corbett spent almost thirty-five years working for the Minnesota Legislature. She is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Street View. Her work is widely published. One of her poems appears in Best American Poetry 2018.

Jermain Cooper is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of T.R.U.T.H. Academy and has extensive corporate, nonprofit, and government experience. Jermain obtained a bachelor of arts in sociology and a bachelor of arts in criminology from Johnson C. Smith University. He also holds a master of science in human behavior from Capella University. Currently, Jermain is finishing courses to obtain his doctor of education (EdD) in leadership from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, where he also serves as an adjunct in the Graduate School of Business and Technology.

Tom Collins writes, “Yes, I am aware that there is a drink with my name on it. My story is real. No need for exaggeration. This is my first submission and I hope it leads to more.”

Amy Clark – mom, artist, teacher, biker, and lover of craft beer.

Doug Champeau lives in the Mounds Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. After a forty-five-plus-year professional career, he says the most satisfying job he ever had was as a dishwasher. His passions are pizza, IPAs, cigarettes, Wanda, Betty—their hound dog—and fresh eggs from their chickens. He loves to write; he hates writing; he should write more. Photography nipped him in high school. His two photography maxims: It has to have a human, and it has to be printed.

Greg Brick works for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and is responsible for documenting and mapping Minnesota’s springs. He has previously been published by the Almanac.

Immanuel Bratzel is an artist who lives and works in Lowertown in Saint Paul.

Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde is a contemplative writer, teacher, and spiritual director residing in the Lex-Ham neighborhood of Saint Paul. She is happily married to Francois, a bread baker from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and they are the proud parents of Marguerite and Gabby. You can read her work at VisitationMonasteryMinneapolis.org.

Betty Bonson is a labor and delivery nurse who is passionate about caring for women of many different cultures and circumstances. She is honored to work in the “hinge moments” of people’s lives as they step through the metaphoric door of the birth or death of a baby.

Constance Beutel was born in Saint Paul, graduating from Archbishop Murray Memorial High School (’64) and the University of Minnesota (’67). He is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and, after many years in a career in high tech and higher education, is happily retired and living in the little town of Benicia, California.

A. Everett Beek is a scholar of Latin and Greek poetry. She has a PhD from the University of Minnesota and a BA from Macalester College, and she has taught at the University of St. Thomas. Beyond her academic publications, she has published a poem in Saint Paul’s Sidewalk Poetry Contest.

Scott Bade is an educator for Saint Paul Public Schools and resides in North Saint Paul with his darling wife, Erika; his adorable children, Audrey (1) and Oliver (4) and his very supportive brother, Dan.

Polyxeni Angelis emigrated from Greece to Saint Paul with her family in 1967. She holds a bachelor of arts in sociology from the University of Minnesota. She has her dream job of buying books for people to enjoy. She lives with her son, two cats, and one spoiled Pekingese.

Kristin D. Anderson is a former stay-at-home mom, high school teacher, and counselor, as well as a retired pastor.

Clarence White is a writer, editor, typewriter poet, curator, and arts administrator. His publications are included in several editions of Saint Paul Almanac, Suisun Valley Review, Public Art Review, and Martin Lake Journal, and his essay “Smart Enough for Ford” appears in the anthology Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota. He was the co-curator of the 2016 and 2017 Banfill-Locke Reading Series and Silverwood Park’s 2014 Art on Foot. He is a past Givens Foundation Retreat Fellow. Currently, Clarence is the associate director of the East Side Freedom Library and lives in Saint Paul.

Sid Carlson White is a senior at Mounds Park Academy. Despite constant pressure from 99.9 percent of the people around him, he continues to maintain his belief that Saint Paul is better than Minneapolis and that baseball is the greatest game ever invented. He does not write as much as he should and is more at home at the ballpark or playing quiz bowl.

Lisa Yankton is a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota and a community organizer, educator, writer, and mother. At night she can be found stargazing. Instead of wishing on a star, she wishes she knew their names.