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Normandale hosts Write Like Us Literary Career Symposium on April 14

Normandale Community College will host a Write Like Us Literary Career Symposium featuring five accomplished literary professionals working in publishing, literary nonprofit administration, and other literary fields on Friday, April 14 at 12 p.m.

The symposium will feature a panel of Carmen Gimenez, Graywolf Press’ new executive director; Halee Kirkwood, an emerging Ojibwe poet, teaching artist and bookseller; Arleta M. Little, Executive Director of Loft Literary Center; Bao Phi McKnight Arts and Culture Program Officer; and poet, essayist, and literary critic, Michael Kleber-Diggs, who will also be the moderator.

You can attend the event in-person or virtually. Go to the links below to sign-up:

Sign-up to attend in-person
Webinar Registration

Write Like us consists of five metro-area community colleges, (Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Century College, Minneapolis College, Normandale Community College, and North Hennepin Community College). The symposium is part of a series of literary events featuring celebrated BIPOC authors and literary professionals. These events are free and open to the public.

Along with the symposium at Normandale, other upcoming events include:

April 4, 2023, 2:00 pm: Ross Gay at Anoka-Ramsey Community College
Celebrated poet and essayist Ross Gay reads from his newest essay collection, Inciting Joy.

April 27, 2023, 7:00 pm: Carmen Maria Machado at Minneapolis College
Award-winning author Carmen Maria Machado reads from her recent books

Write Like Us is funded by Thomson-Reuters and a Minnesota State Multi-Campus Collaboration grant in support of Minnesota State’s Equity 2030 goals. Minnesota State is a consortium of thirty state colleges and seven universities in Minnesota.

Equity 2030 aims to close the educational equity gaps across race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location by the end of the decade at every Minnesota State college and university. To help meet some of Minnesota State’s Equity 2030 goals,

Write Like Us hopes to increase BIPOC enrollment in our AFA and other creative writing programs, with their high rates of persistence, graduation, and transfer. As well, Write Like Us will center and celebrate the work of the BIPOC writers, providing BIPOC mentees with models of success that look like them.

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