Can you tell that the days are getting shorter? I think we had better do something about it, capture them in the vision of our mind’s eye before they fade into night. But even though Saint Paul sleeps, stuff happens at night, too. Even in our Minnesota short-evening summers.
This week marks the grand opening of SubText Books in its new downtown space and this month’s Lowertown Reading Jam, A friend and former bookseller made me think of the importance of what we are doing in our community with art and literature. A friend and former bookseller made me think of the importance of what we are doing in our community with art and literature. She said of the two events, “I hope against the tide too … in many things, actually. Resistance is important, in small and large ways.”
As we strive to make a better world, be it in our personal journeys or to make a more equitable society, art-making plays a crucial—even transformative—role. This reading will ask, How does art transform our lives? Can writing a poem or making a painting act as an agent of social change? Does the process of making art transform what we are given?
It feels like summer. Shorts and ice cream and kids in the neighborhoods during the day. What will we do with ourselves? I don’t know where to start, or maybe I do. Let’s start with some summer reading.
Is it summer yet? We have baseball in Lowertown, we have several festivals under our belts, most young people are out of school and flower gardens are showing off their flowers.
Last week, we kicked off the summer with a big bash of festivals. There are more to come. Be ready for the whole festival scene to explode in July, but there is enough to keep us busy for now, festival or not. Hop on board the Saint Paul train and take in a few sips of it all.
Well, the Saints marched into Lowertown last week to the tune of sunshine and a delightful fracas. The home team won the home opener. This week, there is a lot more to celebrate. You can be a part of it.
The Saint Paul Almanac has done it again. We have come away with another Midwest Book Award, this year in the Reference category.
Stories and music are able to shine a light on our personal woes in a world of harsh realities: a lost love, the cruelty of others, systematic injustice and hard times. These tales and tunes are what move us, make us feel alive and inspire us.
What are YOU doing this summer? I am still trying to answer that. Both the question and its answers slip my mind too often. Before I forget, I wanted to make sure to ask and answer that query for a couple of fantastic opportunities that few of our young actors should check out in the next week or two.
I would like to tell you the Saint Paul Universe is slowing down. It’s not. But I dare not take a breather for fear of missing the lovely celebration of art, life and the city. Speeding to the end of National Poetry Month, I did leave a share of poems, aided by a couple of muses—and my son will be glad to know that he was not one of them. (At least not for any poems that are planned to see the light of day.)
Last week was a poetry powerhouse in Saint Paul, fitting for the waning days of National Poetry Month. We had another all-star Reading by Writers with Carol Connolly that included some of the best pieces “with fire and light” from Nodin Press’s anthology and a packed Lowertown Reading Jam with “Farmworkers and Food Justice”. As I write, I realize that it is still National Poetry Month and I have not written enough poetry.
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