What Matters Most / Events

The Shape of Minnesotan Writers: Minnesota Writers Respond

Brianna Reed — 03/13/2026

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…

Events

Bread, Borders, and Belonging: a Conversation with PEN America

Brianna Reed — 03/12/2026

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

What Matters Most / Events

Marne Zafar, Michael Kleber-Diggs, and Daniel Slager On Community and Showing Up

Brianna Reed — 03/09/2026

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…

Interviews

Nocturama: Author Q&A with Will Brewer

Kamra Heldman — 03/04/2026

In celebration of his newest poetry collection, Nocturama, we spoke with Will Brewer about his experience with critical mentorship from Louise Glück, listening for the lightning strike, and the hope for a poem to exist as a flash that echoes beyond its reading.


Milkweed Staff: Henri Cole likened your voice to Robert Frost’s, whose America was lonely, bewildered, and grieving. What are the characteristics of your America? How does your relationship with the United States influence your poetics?

Will Brewer: I never think about “poetics,” period! As for America, I never sit down and think to discuss it…