Blog Posts by Brianna Reed

On Wednesday, May 27, Milkweed Editions celebrated the launch for the Into a Darker Wilderness podcast, an accompaniment to the anthology A Darker Wilderness, edited by podcast host Erin Sharkey. There, she was joined by her co-host, Max Ritvo Poetry Prize winner Michael Kleber-Diggs, and podcast producer Davi Gray to share in conversation shaped by artist Miré Regulus. Together, they mused on their motivation behind the podcast’s creation and their plans for season one. They asked listeners: What does wilderness mean for you?

We’ll talk to each of the contributors in this book about each…

On Tuesday, May 26th, Milkweed Editions hosted the book launch for Julie Schumacher’s latest book Patient, Female: Stories. There, the Thurber Prize winner was joined in conversation by Claire Lombardo, national-bestselling author of Same As It Ever Was. Together, they discussed the necessity in finding humor within hopelessness, embracing form as challenge, and celebrating her comedic renaissance of the feminine.

There’s such a powerful hit with stories. It’s like a dart to the chest. With novels, you have to get in the water and swim in it, sometimes for days. Stories are a dart. -Julie…

On Friday, April 3rd, Jake Skeets joined Milkweed in celebration of his latest poetry collection, Horses, at the Minnesota Museum of American Art’s Queering Indigeneity exhibit, curated by Penny Kagigebi and Bethany Whitehead. Along the way, his Minnesota book launch included exploring Minneapolis’ Indigenous offerings from Gatherings Cafe, Owamni by The Sioux Chef, and Birchbark Books. He was joined by Mary Austin Speaker, Dr. Kate Bean, Hope Flanagan, Diane Wilson, Heid E. Erdrich, and Odia Wood-Krueger, among others.

Jake Skeets’ first reading of the night, “Just Before the Silence,”…

On Thursday, February 26th, local author Jessica Nordell partnered with Milkweed Editions and The Loft Literary Center on a benefit reading for the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota responding to the current, ongoing tensions within the Twin Cities and our surrounding communities. They were joined by writers Curtis Sittenfeld, Sarah Ghazal Ali, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Chaun Webster, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Claire Wahmanholm, Halee Kirkwood, Lara Mimosa Montes, and Jessica Nordell for a night of collective healing. All proceeds benefitted the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. 

All around us, at first, were…

Following a night of poetry with Minnesota Writers Respond, PEN America and Milkweed Editions presented “On Bread, Borders, and Belonging,” offering a pulse-check on the tensions in the Twin Cities during Operation Metro Surge. Panelists included PEN America President Dinaw Mengestu, PEN International president Burhan Sönmez, Emmy-nominated Taste the Nation host Padma Lakshmi, and Out of the Sierra author Victoria Blanco, guided in conversation by Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf. Opening the event was children’s author Monica Rojas with a reading of Nana and Abuela, while poet Ollie Schminkey closed with a poem on Minnesotan…

On February fifth, Marne Zafar sat down for a Friends Lecture at the Minneapolis Institute of Art with Max Ritvo-award winning poet Michael Kleber-Diggs and Publisher Daniel Slager. Together, they discussed dual perspectives between author and publisher, from winning awards to forging literary friendships within the Twin Cities.  

Good people show up where they’re meant to be. —Michael Kleber-Diggs

This line, from his poetry collection Worldly Things, won’t be read until later in the night, but the crowd that gathers in the Minneapolis Institute of Art already evokes this notion. Just as tonight’s Friends Lecture suggests, everyone checks up…

In anticipation of his newest poetry collection Horses, we sat down with author Jake Skeets—the third poet laureate of the Navajo Nation and previous National Poetry Series winner—to discuss the ways in which his two collections converse with one another, his path forward as Navajo Nation Poet Laureate, and what he would say to every rez kid that speaks in stanzas, and dreams in poetry.

In Horses, queerness becomes relational and mirrors the poetics I’m working toward where the land becomes witness, and the body becomes a carrier of meaning. — Jake Skeets

Milkweed Staff: I’m interested in…

On Thursday, October 9th, 2025, Robin Wall Kimmerer and an abundance of writers, readers, and Milkweed supporters coalesced along the historic Minneapolis riverfront for our annual Book Lovers Ball. There, they were joined by Milkweed publisher Daniel Slager for a celebration of confluences between publishing, plants, and poetry. All throughout the week, she was joined by poets Ada Limón, Heid E. Erdrich, Chris La Tray and memoirists Helen Whybrow, Nicholas Triolo, Scott Chaskey, Erin Sharkey, Angela Pelster, and Beth Dooley, as they consider what it means to publish transformative literature in…

In anticipation of her forthcoming memoir Company of Owls, we sat down with author Polly Atkin—recently longlisted for the 2025 Wainwright prize—to discuss the kinds of company we keep, the habits that hold us steady, and the birds that transform our journey along the way.

 I try to be a good neighbor to humans and nonhumans alike, mindful of community both present and future.

Milkweed staff: We were delighted to discover that you own the independent bookstore, Sam Read Bookseller! Living alongside the owls, how have they informed your place within the community—both as a bookseller…

In celebration of our newest National Poetry Series Winner, Milkweed hosted a reading featuring Keith S. Wilson and his debut poetry collection, Games for Children on September 24th. While here, Keith was joined in conversation with graphic designer and Milkweed Fellow Alex Guerra to discuss the creation of his book cover. Later, Keith took the stage alongside poets Chaun Webster and Douglas Kearney to discuss graphic design, poetry, and how they’ve blurred the boundaries between the two disciplines.

Within minutes of his arrival at Milkweed, Keith S. Wilson and Milkweed Fellow Alex Guerra sparked into conversation over their many…