Books
Former Duluthian Miles Spangrud releases debut novel
My friend and former Duluthian Miles Spangrud will see their debut novel released by Two Gun Publishing. Flesh and Bone: A Historical Western is interesting to me because Western feels like one of those genres that keeps happening no matter how far outside the field of my vision it is. Like Art Bell, maybe. Always there, and I only stumble into it once in a while, this time because the author was local. (more…)
Call for writing and artwork for ‘Going the Distance’
Duluth Publishing Project, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Duluth and Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, is compiling a collection of creative works — visual art, poems and nonfiction writing — on the theme of “Going the Distance.” Students enrolled in classes at the colleges will edit and create the final product. (more…)
Duluth-born author co-writes FX show, has new novel
Duluth native and crime novelist David Tromblay has had a string of interesting Tuesdays. From Sept. 23 to Nov. 4, he got to watch The Lowdown on FX, a TV show he was a writing consultant for. On Nov. 11, he released his fourth book Coydog, a Western crime thriller. (more…)
Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Winners for 2025
Eight books in four categories have been recognized for this year’s Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards, which celebrate books that substantially represent the history, culture, heritage or lifestyle of northeastern Minnesota. (more…)
The Book of the North: Part 1
The Book of the North is a collaborative book-making project using premodern techniques to experience how the information technologies of the past bind together communities and ecologies, and create a vision for a more sustainable future.
The project is being led by Dr. Krista Sue-Lo Twu, University of Minnesota Imagine Arts, Humanities, and Design chair. The process can be followed through various social medica platforms.
One more contribution to the literary history of Duluth
My students were busy over the past two years. Tales of Migration is the second of their book projects, a collection of migration tales that include submissions from the students, from Duluth, and from around the world.
I am looking for themes for the spring 2026 project. I am oscillating between calling for an anthology, like this, or for calling for chapbooks and short essays and comics that could be published by my students, chapbook style.
Not just excavating, but creating the literary history of Duluth
I post a lot about books found at the Duluth Public Library sale, or at the former Gabriel’s books, as part of the general project in my class to excavate the literary history of Duluth and to work with the UMD archives to preserve it. (more…)
Writers, Artists and a Culture of Creativity in the Loch
Chance Lasher and Justin O. Rose meet to talk writing, art and creativity at the Loch game shop and cafe.
I visited the Loch on June 6 for an event celebrating and cultivating creativity. The event was sponsored by the Duluth Failed Poets Society. (more…)
Discovering Colleen Baldrica’s ‘Tree Spirited Woman’
In “Minnesota Writers Spotlight on Colleen Baldrica,” Kaelyn Hvidsten writes about discovering Baldrica’s Tree Spirited Woman tucked away in a Canal Park art shop.
Duluth Book Releases in 2025
Presenting Perfect Duluth Day’s annual rundown of books by Duluth-area writers and/or about Duluth-area topics that are new to bookstores and e-commerce sites. (more…)
New book of interest if you have friends at UMD
I love talking about the literary writing world here, but I rarely talk about academic writing. I’d like to, this time, because I just finished c0-editing a freshly published book with articles by some of your neighbors. They were intentionally written to be accessible to a broad readership. (more…)
Climate>Duluth: An Interview with Gaia Vince
Climate>Duluth host Tone Lanzillo interviews award-winning science writer Gaia Vince, author of Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World, published in the United States by Flatiron Books in 2022.
Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Winners for 2024
Nine books have been recognized for this year’s Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards, which celebrate books that substantially represent the history, culture, heritage or lifestyle of northeastern Minnesota. (more…)
New book looks at America on the eve of war
In the late 1930s, the world was on the brink of war. In 2024, Alexis Pogorelskin is well aware that the threat has returned.
Her book Hollywood and the Nazis on the Eve of War: The Case of The Mortal Storm details the events preceding World War II. It was released in August by Bloomsbury Press. (more…)
Literary History of Duluth: Joel Carter
Another thrift store find: I would love it if anyone with stories about this book, about its poetry or the art or the press, would post below or email dbeard @ d.umn.edu.
Literary History of Duluth: Savage Press
I’m still slowly writing the literary history of Duluth and would love if anyone with stories of Savage Press would post below or email me at dbeard @ d.umn.edu.
Foxes & Fireflies bookstore coming soon to Superior Entrepreneurship Center
Foxes & Fireflies begins to take shape as tables and bookshelves are set up in the space on Tower Avenue in Superior. (Photo via Foxes & Fireflies Facebook page)
A new independent bookstore will soon be part of a business incubation facility in Superior.
Foxes & Fireflies will be Superior’s only bookstore carrying an inventory of new books. The city does not have a chain bookstore and hasn’t had a notable outlet for new books since the locally owned JW Beecroft store closed in 2007. (more…)
Bart Sutter’s new poetry collection revels in the natural world
Bart Sutter in the apple trees.
“Lake Superior is God.” Bart Sutter wrote that declaration in his 1998 book Cold Comfort, a collection of essays about “life at the top of the map.” The work was well received by readers, culminating in a Minnesota Book Award for creative nonfiction, and Sutter’s permanent status as a northern force. (more…)
The Will and the Way
Judy Gibbs introduced me to The Will and the Way series of books about the creation of a number of Duluth institutions. (more…)
Adas Israel: A Talk and a Book
During the Twin Ports Festival of History, my friend Phil Sher gave a speech about the history of the Lithuanian Jewish community in Duluth. Phil is the author of a recent book, Adas Israel, available on Amazon, that was a product of a unique partnership between the University of Minnesota Duluth and the community. (more…)
Fur Trade Nation: Linking Continents
One of Carl Gawboy’s earliest memories is seeing a muskrat skin hanging on the wall in his house. “My father trapped animals and sold them to a fur buyer,” Gawboy said. “That’s when my fascination with trapping began.” Decades later, that interest became the subject of Gawboy’s latest book, Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe’s Graphic History, published by Animikii Mazina’iganan: Thunderbird Press. The release date is April 30. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2024
Every year a gob of books by Duluth-area writers and/or about Duluth-area topics hit the shelves of local bookstores and warehouses of e-commerce corporations. Here’s a look at what’s new and coming soon in 2024. (more…)
Riley Grace Brett at Gabriel’s Book Store
I met a new local author in the wild over the weekend at Gabriel’s Book Store in Lakeside. Riley Grace Brett volunteers there; she has also released a new novel. (more…)
Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards 2024 Call for Nominations
Lake Superior Writers is seeking nominations for the 2024 Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards. NEMBA celebrates books that substantially represent the history, culture, heritage or lifestyle of northeastern Minnesota.
The six categories are: nonfiction, fiction, children’s literature, middle grade / young adult, poetry and memoir. (more…)
Seeking migration stories to teach, publish
This semester, I will be teaching a class focusing on migration stories. If you have a favorite such story (about human migration, bird migration, software migration), especially one with a Duluth connection, please send it my way: dbeard @ d.umn.edu, or comment below. (more…)