More Than a Single Story

A place for storytelling…

Our Founder

Carolyn Holbrook

FOUNDER / DIRECTOR

Carolyn Holbrook is a writer, educator, and an advocate for the healing power of the arts. Her memoir in essays, Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify (Minn2020), won the 2021 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. She is founder and director of More Than a Single Story and the co-editor with David Mura of the anthology, We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, fellowships and awards including the Minnesota Book Awards, Flowers Now!, 2024; and is the 2025 McKnight Distinguished Artist. She holds a Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Creative Arts Leadership (Union Institute & University 2002).

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Our Mission & History

More Than a Single Story was founded in 2016 with a mission to position the literary arts as a catalyst for cross-cultural healing, understanding, and social justice. We present BIPOC writers/arts activists with opportunities to advance their work and engage public audiences in conversations around the issues their work addresses.

Our vision is to amplify voices of BIPOC writers in the public arena, and to support writers in their developmental process. Through readings, panel conversations, community-based writing workshops, writing intensives, mentorships and salons for emerging and established writers, and other opportunities, BIPOC writers deepen their practice and explore issues that are critical to building equity for themselves and their cultural communities.