Writer to writer with Payal Doshi and Nicole D. Collier
2026-05-07 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | MN
This is an online event please Register Here
Panelist Bios:
Payal Doshi is the author of Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, a middle grade fantasy novel and recipient of the IPPY Gold Award. Her young adult short story, “A Confluence of Fates” can be found in the YA anthology, My Big, Fat, Desi Wedding. Her forthcoming four-book series of chapter books, Magic Gems, published by Scholastic Inc. will be available in 2026. Payal has an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from The New School, New York. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, she currently lives with her family in Minnesota. When she isn’t writing stories that celebrate her South Asian heritage, you can find her nose deep in a book with a cup of coffee or daydreaming of fantasy realms to send her characters into. For more information, visit her website, www.payaldoshiauthor.com, or follow her on Instagram @payaldoshiauthor.
Nicole D. Collier writes warm-hearted stories about learning to be true to yourself. Her books have been nominated for state book awards, earned starred reviews, and been named on ‘best of’ lists. A former elementary school teacher, Nicole champions literacy, critical thinking, imagination and compassion as essential 21st century skills. Born and raised in Atlanta, she is currently based in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida where she is daydreaming about her next project.

LAND & WATER: A WRITER’S RELATIONSHIP WITH PLACE May 20th Writing Workshop with Halee Kirkwood
2026-05-20 17:30 - 19:30 | All My Relations Gallery, 1414 E Franklin ave #1, Minneapolis, MN, 55404, United States
Join us for a two-part workshop in support of the Mary Ann Key Book Club conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer. Today’s workshop, led by poet Halee Kirkwood, focuses on water, encouraging participants to write about a waterway that nourishes them. Refreshments begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the workshop at 6 p.m. The workshop is offered in a hybrid format, both in person at All My Relations Arts Gallery or online via Facebook Live.
Please register by clicking here
Setting is often described as an element in a writer’s story, a tool that helps the reader visualize the place where their characters live. And yet, as humans, we are profoundly shaped by the land we come from, the water we live near, the plants and animals who share the earth with us, and the horizon that greets us each day. Along with discussion of select excerpts by various writers, such as Robin Wall Kimmerer, Linda Hogan, and Kimberly Blaeser, participants will explore their relationship to place through brief writing exercises, and consider how they might extend that visualization to their broader work.
Halee Kirkwood’s debut poetry collection, “To Think of a Match,” is forthcoming with Curbstone Press in spring 2027. Kirkwood is a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, an inaugural and returning Indigenous Nations Poets fellow, and a 2019 Loft Mentor Series fellow. They are a direct descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe.
