Saint Paul Almanac

APPEARANCES

2023 International Conference on Abuse

The 2023 International Conference on Abuse (Oct 26, 2023) is designed to raise awareness for prevention, to facilitate training on emerging issues, case studies, and best practices regarding human trafficking, sexual assault, and domestic violence, to provide resources and networking opportunities for survivors, advocates, legal professionals, victim service providers, law enforcement, community members and organizations to end gender-based violence through multidisciplinary collaborations.

Volume 13 A Path to Each Other stories and poems come from the authentic voices of everyday lived experience and thus it encapsulates the dream of a liberated and just United States: a place where cultures meet and mingle and celebrate our unique perspectives. At this time in our collective experience, we need these important stories more than ever, stories and poems of grappling with injustice amid the joy of enjoying our families, gathering with our neighbors, and appreciating natural beauty. It's never been more urgent to share our truth and walk toward each other. --executive editor Wendy Brown-Baez

"A Path to Each Other is a beautiful and formidable collection. It's a love letter to memories, places, and people who make possible our collective understanding of belonging. The voices in this book speak their truths in these tumultuous times, declaring the value of their words, holding safe the pieces of our world."

–Kai Kalia Yang

This collection of voices weaves humor, love, the gut-punch of loss, the ordinary and extraordinary with mamas and daddies, buses and ESL classes, scooters and rescue dogs, and the vagaries of Minnesota weather. It is provocative and compassionate in its portrayals of inter-generational experiences of adversity and success, written, as the quote in the book from David Mura suggests, “from strength not weakness.” In these uncertain and stressful times, these writers lead us across the diverse landscapes and cultures of St. Paul with their lyrical words and stunning imagery to help us find what we need most—a path to each other made by walking together with empathy and understanding.

―Gwen Westerman, author of Follow the Blackbirds and 2021 Minnesota State Poet Laureate

to purchase books, check out local bookstores Next Chapter Booksellers or on Saint Paul Almanac distributor website:

Saint Paul Almanac

Past Performances and Events

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photos courtesy of Orlando Diaz, Monica Del Castillo, Ned Haggard,

Laurie Benson, and George Colburn

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My performances cross the boundaries between cultures, between emotional

and transcendent states, between the spiritual and the sensual, and

between poetry and theater. In the Bay Area Express, Natasha Nargis wrote:

"She works the room with maximum theatricality, drawing those who are

transfixed on the drama before them into her vivid, vibrant world."

My style has been described by Stefen, a Berkeley muralist, as "more like a dance"

as I unfold my heart to show the world a reflection of its own beauty.

My hope is that we realize we are not alone,

and my inner landscape affirms that when I perform.

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Cuba and Jerusalem, bursting with life and history and humanity, seemed to erupt into the room. Others, about pain and grief and loss, sunk their hooks into us, touched something deep inside. The energy and empathy of her poems was infectious, and it got us all. --Gabrielle Santiago, Patrick's Cabaret

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Healing energy and love at 2016 POP UP readings with some of my favorite local poets, and flutist Chrisma

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Venus Rising with Marcia Starck 2004

Word Dancers Southwest Literary Center 2009

MPLS: Publication party February 27th 2009 with Nadia Giordana

at Altered Aesthetics Gallery Exhibition

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 2008