Yes, it’s winter, several weeks early. In honor of an early winter, I won’t make you stand here freezing for long. We’ll get right to the business of art and literature and culture. Also, since we haven’t the sanity to avoid this weather, maybe I can help infuse a little sanity into your holiday plans.
First off, thanks to everyone who joined us and gave us a shout-out for Give to the Max Day. Along with the promise of a slight warm-up, that support is helping me start this week with hopes for more great happenings and being released from last week’s winter air. It is a luxury to reach toward Thanksgiving without snow and without cold, but it seems that we are due for a small treat if not a bask in comfort as we approach my favorite holiday.
This Thursday November 20, Soul Sounds Open Mic will have a special feature: “National Drop Out Crisis: Youth Poets Push Back.” This past summer, TruArtSpeaks tapped into the voices and expertise of young people addressing the national dropout crisis through spoken word, hip hop, and rap.
Nov. 13th – Lisa Brimmer is a poet and playwright residing in Minneapolis, MN. In 2009, she attended the Juniper Summer Writers Institute week long workshop with Dara Weir. Brimmer was a fellow through the Given’s Foundation of African American Literature in 2009 and worked with Ishmael Reed, E. Ethelbert Miller, and Laurie Carlos.
As you will see, Thursday is a busy day in the Saint Paul arts world. Besides a lot of authors and artists reading, it is Give to the Max Day. Maybe you should write this down. (I did.) Of course, you can always take a look at the Almanac arts calendar.
Join Guest host Keno Evol for this week’s Soul Sounds Open Mic at Golden Thyme Coffee Cafe. This week’s open mic features No Projection A group of multi disciplinary performance artists with roots on both sides of the river.
Tomorrow, November 4, is election day. If you are reading this, I hope you go to vote, if you have not already. I am going to tell you about a bunch of things I think you should do this week. When we show up around town, participate, co-create and enjoy our neighbors, our community, our culture, and our arts, we immeasurably improve the spaces in which we tread.
Soul Sounds Open Mic it’s “Rap Verses.” On Thursday, October 30 we celebrate the emcees! SSOM host Tish Jones says, “Bring your hottest 16bars, a full length song and a Hip Hop spirit. It’s all about the cypher!” Catch up with the crew at Golden Thyme Coffee Shop at 821 Selby Avenue (at Milton). They start at 6 p.m., as usual.
Every time I look at the Almanac arts calendar, I realize how much I’m missing. It’s not that I am not doing anything, although I have spent some evenings at home (doing work, of course, right?), and I have been spotted a couple of times within the boundaries of the other Twin.
Share a night of poems in response to the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and the activist work that is currently taking place. This is a space for poems about Mike Brown, Terrance Franklin, Ferguson, Police Brutality, new found consciousness, confusion, anger, hurt, loss, change, hope, and everything in between. The work that is taking place in Ferguson effects everyone in the United States, knowingly or unknowingly. This is an opportunity to add your voice to the conversation.
Polar vortex. El Niño. El Niña. Swirling weather concoctions made it nice to get out and enjoy our fair city. We will see what this week brings, as far as sun and warmth and cold and beautiful colors. Who knows how long before it gets cold and icy, but we will continue to have great reasons to get out and great things and people to see. I have a few ideas for this week. Maybe you have some, too.
Help us SAVE OUR STORIES! We need your support to continue bringing Saint Paul Almanac’s programs to life. Your contribution goes directly to the literary/visual artists who will make our work possible in 2027. Will you chip in today?