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A year ago today, Max Ritvo passed away after a long battle with cancer. Here are just a few of the most wonderful interviews, reviews, and remembrances of Max available on the internet.

Carissa Hansen, the Project Archivist at the Upper Midwest Literary Archives (UMLA), has spent hours sifting through and organizing the years of history contained in Milkweed’s archives. As part of the Prairie Poets and Press project, Carissa writes about the Widwestern literary legends that live in these files, illuminating Milkweed’s history and the vast legacy of Minnesota writers.

When Amy and Dave Freeman learned of toxic mining proposed along the edge of the Boundary Waters, they decided they needed to take action—by spending an entire year in the Wilderness, sharing their experience through video, photos, and a blog that reached hundreds of thousands of concerned citizens. A Year in the Wilderness is their story.

During our Kickstarter campaign, one of the promises we made was to support emerging writers—those with just a debut or second book to their name. Emerging writers often struggle to reach readers in the marketplace because it favors guaranteed sales from proven authors, so we pledged to read, stock, and celebrate their books in part by devoting an entire section of Milkweed Books to their work. Our front display (the first thing you see when you walk in the door!) is dedicated to these important books, but that’s not the only place you can find them. Shelf talkers noting “Debut Author!” punctuate…

Dalia Rosenfeld, author of the debut story collection The Worlds We Think We Know, joined Milkweed editor Joey McGarvey in a discussion about place, humor, and literary influences. From the meaning of symbolism to the catalysts for character creation, Rosenfeld recounts how her book came into being.

Milkweed Editions, in partnership with Riva Ariella Ritvo-Slifka and the Alan B. Slifka Foundation, is pleased to announce the inaugural Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. The winning poet will receive publication by Milkweed Editions in April 2018 and $10,000, making the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize the most lucrative first-book prize.

Feeling a lack of meaningful connection to their cultural roots—Lurie as the son of a reticent Holocaust survivor, José attempting to access a communal histroy obliterated by centuries of oppression—Canoeing with José is the story of two men who embark on a two-thousand mile paddle from Breckenridge, Minnesota to the Hudson Bay. Faced with mosquitoes, extreme weather, suspicious law enforcement officers, tricky border crossings, and José’s preference for Kanye West over the great outdoors„ the trip becomes an oddysey of self-discovery and companionship.

Their friend, Markus Hoeckner, produced a short documentary about their friendship.

“I can see, looking back…

Does a book seem small in influence compared to the monstrous forces of mean-spirited avarice that shadow our public life today? Sure. But why do we remember Leo Tolstoy, Walt Whitman, Virginia Woolf, or James Baldwin?

The next Milkweed Books Subscription pick is here! Read on for more about Edward McPherson’s The History of the Future, plus other books that explore American myths and misdeeds, boomtowns and Doom Towns.

In precise sentences and assured prose, all three of these writers have crafted singular works of personal nonfiction.