More Than A Single Story

Book Launch Event: We Are Meant to Rise
2021-11-29 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 Snelling Ave S., St. Paul, MN, United States
Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura, editors, will be at Next Chapter Booksellers on Monday, November 29 at 6:00 p.m. for the launch of We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World. They will be joined for this hybrid event by contributors Kao Kalia Yang, Said Shaiye, Douglas Kearney, and Melissa Olson. To register for in-person attendance ($5), visit the Next Chapter Booksellers website here. To attend virtually (free), register here.
Here Indigenous writers and writers of color bear witness to one of the most unsettling years in U.S. history. Essays and poems vividly reflect the traumas we endured in 2020, beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic, deepened by the blatant murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and the uprisings that immersed our city into the epicenter of worldwide demands for justice.

Book Release: We Are Meant to Rise
2021-11-23
November 23, 2021 is the official release date for More Than a Single Story’s long-awaited anthology, We Are Meant to Rise. Edited by Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura, the collection features works written by More Than a Single Story panelists and participants. Reserve your copy at a local bookstore and plan to pick it up on the 23rd!
This is the release date, but the official book event will be held on November 29th at Next Chapter Booksellers. See the separate event post for info on that hybrid in-person/virtual event.

Exploring Home, Exile and What We Carry: Writing Memoirs
2021-10-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
How can writing help you reclaim life, forge new languages and build a brighter future after experiencing exile or separation from one’s home? How can self-awareness expand our writing and self in increasingly stressful sociopolitical contexts? In this workshop, we will answer these questions and examine the ordinary events of our lives – our location, language, movements, dreams, memories, desires and more – and purposefully use writing as a tool to resist being a passive onlooker in our life and the world. Led by Beaudelaine Pierre. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Register for this event on the Hennepin County Library website here.
The link to the live online event will be emailed to registrants in advance. Learn more about participating in virtual library events.
Beaudelaine Pierre is a journalist, scholar and novelist who writes about her native Haiti and her adopted Youwès (U.S.). She is the author of the award-winning collection of essays and stories “You May Have the Suitcase Now” (New Rivers Press, 2021), the co-editor of the trilingual anthology “How to Write an Earthquake / Comment écrire et quoi écrire / Mou pou 12 Janvye” (AHB, 2011) and author of the debut novel “Testaman” (Bon Nouvèl, 2002). Pierre is currently researching and exploring the ethical, scientific and humanist representations of the situation of Temporary Protected Status holders in the Youwès.

Exploring Home and Exile: Writing Cento Poems
2021-10-21 18:30 - 20:30 | Virtual Event
In the Cento form, lines from different sources stand next to each other to create new narratives. This exercise encourages participants to focus closely on their favorite lines from various poems and helps them understand how the individual parts relate to the whole. In this workshop, we will work with multiple poems to create our own Cento poems on the themes of home and exile, and all that we carry with us in our physical and psychological “suitcases.” Led by Valerie Deus. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Register for this event on the HCLIB website here.
The link to the live online event will be emailed to registrants in advance. Learn more about participating in virtual library events.
Valerie Deus is a poet, film programmer and radio show host of Haitian descent. Her work has been featured in Minnesota Women’s Press, The Brooklyn Rail, Midway, the St. Paul Almanac, and more. Her most recent essay is featured in “What We Hunger For: Refugee and Immigrant Stories About Food and Family.” When she’s not writing, she is the host of Project 35, a local low-fi radio show on KRSM radio.

EMBRACING OUR ROOTS: Alanna Morris-Van Tassel in conversation with Arleta Little & Ellena Schoop
2021-10-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
After the uprisings for George Floyd and Daunte Wright, sharing knowledge inter-generationally is more important than ever. Join us for monthly conversations where young arts leaders will join our elders in conversation about their histories of significant milestones in Minnesota’s Black literary history. On Wednesday, Oct. 20, Alanna Morris-Van Tassel will join Arleta Little and Ellena Schoop in a conversation about the Givens Foundation for African American Literature and the collaborative retreat they founded which brought in nationally and internationally renowned poets and writers such as Amiri Baraka and Sonja Sanchez to mentor emerging Minnesota Black writers.

Embracing Our Roots is a partnership with More Than a Single Story, Black Table Arts, and In Black Ink. Photo Credit: Canaan Mattson, courtesy of the McKnight Choreography Fellowship

Alanna Morris-Van Tassel is a dancer-choreographer, educator, and artist organizer whose work excavates cultural retention and fragmentation within their Caribbean diasporic identity. They were a featured performer with TU Dance from 2007-2017, and served as the company’s Artistic Associate in 2020. In 2015 they were awarded a McKnight Dance Fellowship, They were named Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch!”in 2018 and were selected as City Pages’ Artist of the Year in and Best Choreographer in 2019. Morris-Van Tassel is the Artistic Director of AMVTP, founded in 2017 to produce dance, education and community-building initiatives. Learn more about Alanna at www.alannamvt.com.

Arleta Little is a writer and culture worker living in Minneapolis’s Longfellow neighborhood. Her literary work has appeared in Blues Vision: African American Writing From Minnesota and in The Saint Paul Almanac. She is a co-author along with Josie Johnson and Carolyn Holbrook of Hope in the Struggle: A Memoir about the life of Josie R. Johnson. Formerly the Executive Director of the Givens Foundation of African American Literature, she currently works as an Arts Program Officer and the Director of Artist Fellowships at the McKnight Foundation.

Ellena (Tina) Schoop, east coast native, IT Professional by day, is a founding member of Uhuru Dancers, 1989. She is a West African dancer, choreographer, poet, and playwright who writes dramatic works of social, economic and historical subjects. She was the visionary and co-founder of the Givens Foundation Black Writers Collaborative Retreat Program. Raised by parents who were members of the Black Panther Party, she believes in not only sharing these stories through dance and writing, but through fighting for equity. She has performed, written and shared stories throughout the Twiin Cities for the past 2 decades.

The Suitcases We Carry: An Afternoon With Haitian Women Writers
2021-10-10 14:00 - 15:30 | Virtual Event
In this More Than a Single Story conversation, we will engage with Haitian authors Beaudelaine Pierre, Gabrielle Civil, Valerie Deus, Marie Cerat and Jaira Placide on the themes in Pierre’s new book “You May Have the Suitcase Now,” a collection of essays that explores home and exile, and all that we carry with us in our physical and psychological “suitcases.” Moderated by Professor Zenzele Isoke. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
This program hosted by More Than a Single Story via Zoom. Register at the HCLIB website here.
The link to the online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance. If you’re new to Zoom, check Getting Started with Zoom.

Beaudelaine Pierre is a journalist, scholar, and novelist who writes about her native Haiti and her adopted Youwès (US).
Marie Lily Cerat is Associate Director of the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute at Brooklyn College and teaches with the Africana Studies Department.
Gabrielle Civil is a black feminist performance artist, poet and writer, originally from Detroit, MI.
Jaira Placide is a Ph.D. student in City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center.
Zenzele Isoke is Associate Professor and Chair of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Embracing Our Roots
2021-09-10 18:30 - 20:30 | Black Table Arts, 3737 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis, MN, 55406
A Partnership with More Than a Single Story, Black Table Arts, and In Black Ink
Second Friday of the month from Sept. 21-Feb. 22 unless otherwise stated.
6:00-7:30 p.m.
The program will be hybrid – you can join in person at Black Table Arts or if you prefer, you can participate virtually on Zoom or FB Live.
Admission: Free
Description: After the uprisings for George Floyd and Daunte Wright, sharing knowledge inter-generationally is more important than ever. Join us for monthly Friday evening conversations where our elders will be gifting their insights into their histories of organizing, and also taking questions from our young people on how to move forward and stay fortified in the movement.
In the Spirit of Sankofa, this speaker series reaches back into the history of the Black literary arts in Minnesota in order to pass this knowledge on to the new generation of ascending as leaders in our Black literary arts. The series features Black Literary Elders and Culture Bearers who will discuss significant milestones in Minnesota’s Black literary history and will engage audience members in conversation around the impact that both the writers and the movements have had on our present-day capacity to survive the storms and keep creating.
The series will run from September 2021-February 22. Speakers will include Louis Alemayehu, Pamela Fletcher Bush, Carolyn Holbrook, Arleta Little and Ellena Schoop, Alexs Pate, and John S. Wright. The program will culminate with a tour of the Givens Collection of African American Literature based at the University of Minnesota.
Sept. 10, 2021: Louis Alemayehu
Elder Alemayehu moved to the Twin Cities from Chicago in the late l960s. There was a lot going on in the arts community back then. Elder Louis will share some of his vast knowledge, including the first African American bookstore, radio programs about politics and arts, The Way Unlimited, and the African American Cultural Arts Center.
Oct. 8, 2021: Arleta Little and Ellena Schoop
The women will talk about the Givens Foundation with special emphasis on the Givens Black Writers Collaborative Retreat Program which engaged ten emerging African American writers from diverse genres in an eight-month program providing mentoring and peer support, building literary community, honing literary craft, and producing new works.
Nov. 19, 2021: Pamela Fletcher Bush
Ms. Fletcher Bush will give her recollections of the 80s Twin Cities Black literary scene which includes Wonders of the Wind (WOW), Guild Press, and The Butterfly Tree, among other points of convergence. We served as a necessary literary movement, sustaining hope and joy in the word.
Dec. 10, 2021: Alexs Pate
Alexs will talk about the Givens Foundation with special emphasis on the Givens Foundation’s Nommo African American Author Series which he hosted, interviewing nationally and internationally renowned African American authors including Lucille Clifton, Ntozake Shange, John Edgar Wideman and many more.
Jan. 14, 2022: Carolyn Holbrook
Carolyn will discuss her work from the 1980s when she founded the Whittier Writers’ Workshop through her tenure as the first BIPOC program director at the Loft Literary Center. She will also discuss SASE: The Write Place (1993-2006) and her current position of founder/director of More Than a Single Story.
Feb. 11, 2022: John S. Wright
Dr. Wright will give a performative history of the traveling multimedia “Langston Hughes Project — Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz” that he created and toured the country with beginning in the 1990s. He will also discuss the Archie Givens, Sr. Collection of African American Literature which he spearheaded in 1995. The Givens Collection, located at the U of M, consists of over 10,000 books, magazines, and pamphlets by or about African Americans.
Sometime between mid-Feb & mid-March. Tour of Givens Collection of African American Literature. The Givens Collection, located at the U of M, consists of over 10,000 books, magazines, and pamphlets by or about African Americans.

Writing Workshop: Writing Life "Recipes"
2021-05-24 12:00 - 14:00 | Virtual Event
In this workshop, we will use guided creative writing exercises to invent life “recipes” such as “How to Live a Life Worth Telling” or “How to Forgive Your Haters.” The workshop is part conversation, part writing and part sharing. All levels of writing and life experience welcomed. Bring a notebook and pencil or laptop and a good sense of humor (because the facilitator has a wacky sense of humor). Participants are encouraged to create recipes in any language(s).
Led by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, an award-winning Lao writer and author of the children’s book “When Everything was Everything” who is best known for her award-winning play, “Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals.”

In collaboration with Hennepin County Libraries. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

REGISTER HERE

Writing Workshop: Noticing the Field of Purple: Examining Beauty Through Black American Writing and Music
2021-05-15 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Event
In this guided poetry writing session, we will question the power dynamics of beauty while exploring our own personal relationship to it. We will anchor our critical exploration of beauty in Black American literary traditions and music. From this framework, we will generate original poems that intentionally reflect on how we can assert and affirm a radical recovery of beauty that nourishes with its strength, healing properties and reminds us to love ourselves and the overlooked splendors of environments that make up who we are. Attend this workshop to receive, reflect, write and (if you feel so inclined) recite.
Led by Sagirah Shahid, an award-winning African American Muslim poet, arts educator and performance artist. Her debut collection of poetry “Surveillance of Joy” is forthcoming from Half Mystic Press.
REGISTER HERE
In collaboration with the Hennepin County Libraries. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

In the Eye of the Beholder
2021-05-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Virtual Event
In Toni Morrison’s first novel “The Bluest Eye,” her character Pecola Breedlove faces unspeakable troubles in her young life and believes her problems will go away if only she had blue eyes. For years, women of color have been writing about how American beauty standards affect them, and for years, the beauty industry has been working to make them buy into those standards rather than helping them love and respect their own beauty.
In this More Than a Single Story conversation, artists/activists/hairstylists Ebony J. Davis and Mahogany Plautz will lead a conversation with poets Mary Moore Easter and Saymoukda Vongsay, fashion designer Bris Carbajal, Northern Arapaho and Kickapoo Emmy-nominated multimedia artist Missy Whiteman and salon owner/hairstylist Fiona Buff on the issues of women of color and beauty.
In collaboration with Hennepin County Libraries. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
REGISTER HERE
This program hosted by More Than a Single Story via Zoom. The link to the online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.

Writing Workshop: Won't You Celebrate With Me?
2021-05-12 18:00 - 20:00
This workshop invites you to come celebrate our creativity, goodness and resistance to the ways our class system has tried to kill us-and failed. Through reading and writing, we will center the stories of Indigenous people and people of color who are and have been poor and working class. Because all of us have been hurt by the roles our society has pushed us into, this workshop is for everyone. This workshop is led by Jna Shelomith, who found poetry at the intersection of Arabic (a language was created to write down sacred poetry) and Riot Grrrrl (created for punk rock feminist expression).
This is an online program offered remotely using Zoom communication software. You must register in advance for this program. After registering, you will receive an automated confirmation email. A week before the program, you will receive another email with information about joining the meeting.
Sponsored by More Than a Single Story.
REGISTER HERE
This program is funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Writing Workshop: The Cost of Living
2021-05-05 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
Whether you write in poetry, prose, or not at all, we invite you to this workshop to process the literal and metaphorical costs of living as a Black Indigenous Person of Color. Using prompts and reading samples from other BIPOC writers for inspiration, we’ll explore the things our bodies and psyches have inherited as well as the things we wish to pass on. This workshop is led by May Lee-Yang, a writer, performance artist, and teacher who often uses pop culture and humor to interrogate race, gender, and identity.
This is an online program offered remotely using Zoom communication software. You must register in advance for this program. After registering, you will receive an automated confirmation email. A week before the program, you will receive another email with information about joining the meeting.
Sponsored by More Than a Single Story.
REGISTER HERE
This program is funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Financial Trauma in Communities of Color
2021-04-28 18:00 - 19:30 | Virtual Event
In this More Than a Single Story conversation, arts activist Tess Montgomery will explore the intersections between financial independence and historical trauma on people of color and how it affects them in their daily lives as parents, as children of parents who have struggled financially, and as workers and artists today during the pandemic. Featuring Suleiman Adan, Anthony Ceballos, May Lee-Yang, Sagirah Shahid and Jna Shelomith.
via Zoom Wednesday, April 28 at 6:00 pm
REGISTER HERE
Sponsored by Ramsey County Library
Panelists:
Suleiman Adan is a writer and educator in the Twin Cities. He is a graduate of The University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). Suleiman is also an organizer and community leader. Suleiman is currently a Program Manager at Reading and Math inc where he oversees early Math and Reading literacy programs in over 40 schools across the Twin Cities metro area.
Anthony Ceballos’s poetry has been featured in Yellow Medicine Review, Midway Journal, Sleet, Writers Resist, Great River Review and Queer Voices: Poetry, Prose, and Pride. In 2016 he was selected to be a Loft Literary Center Mentor Series mentee. He is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at Randolph University in Virginia. He lives, breathes and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He can be found penning staff recommendations at Birchbark Books and Native Arts.
May Lee-Yang is a writer, performance artist, and teacher who often uses pop culture and humor to interrogate race, gender, and identity. Her theater-based works include The Korean Drama Addict’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity and Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman. She has been featured on CNN’s United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell and has spoken at TEDx Minneapolis. She is a founding member of F.A.W.K. (Funny Asian Women Kollective), a group that uses comedy to combat the invisibility and dehumanization of Asian women’s stories. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota.
Sagirah Shahid is an African American Muslim poet, arts educator, and performance artist. She is a recipient of a Loft Literary Center mentor series award in poetry and a Twin Cities Media Alliance performance and public art fellowship. She is a Tedx Minneapolis 2020 speaker. Her debut collection of poetry Surveillance of Joy is forthcoming from Half Mystic Press.
Jna Shelomith grew up in a family that spoke six different languages, with Jewish roots in Morocco and Russia. Jna found poetry at the intersection of Arabic, which was created to write down sacred poetry- and Riot Grrrrl, which was created for punk rock feminist expression. She is a Board member of Mizna, and a member of two writing groups: Women From the Center and Mizna Writing Collective. Growing up without housing on and off for 25 years, she now co-owns her first house. For pay, Jna’s work focuses on community engagement, collaboration and systems change addressing complex challenges impacting the communities of Ramsey County.
Moderator:
Tess Montgomery is a young communicator and visionary living in Minneapolis. She is a Digital Marketing Specialist at TPT-Twin Cities PBS and Marketing and Communications Manager for More Than a Single Story. She is a 2018 Fellow with the Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy, a 2017 Fellow with New Sector Academy, and serves on the board of Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of the Twin Cities. Tess is passionate about the power of grassroots, community-led organizing. She holds a degree in Journalism & Mass Communications from Drake University.

Crossing Generational Lines
2021-04-08 08:00 - 17:00
Watch Here: Crossing Generational & Racial Lines
This panel presents two generations of collaborations between African American and Asian American male literary artists. The intersections between these four artists explore how poetry and literary culture can form new relationships and understandings and new forms of dialogue between their respective communities. This panel will discuss what their collaborations can tell us about race in America—in the past, in the present and the future.

Featuring: David Mura, Alexs Pate, Bao Phi & Douglas Kearney

In collaboration with the Loft Literary Center

Healing Through Poetry
2021-02-25 18:00 - 20:00
In this supportive poetry workshop, learn how poetry can be used as a tool for healing through the use of language, symbols, moments, and visions. Poems by Native American writers and writers of color will be shared to examine our contemporary struggles, wounds and ways of connecting with the wholeness of ourself and others. Writing prompts will be offered as well as time for voluntary sharing of poems. Led by Sun Yung Shin. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Instructor Bio: Sun Yung Shin is the author of three books of poetry, including the Minnesota Book Award-winner Unbearable Splendor; the editor/co-editor of two anthologies including A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption, and the author/co-author of two books for children. With fellow Korean immigrant poet Su Hwang, she co-directs Poetry Asylum. She is a full-time artist, cultural worker, and educator, and lives in Minneapolis with her family; her forthcoming books include What We Hunger For: Refugee & Immigrant Writers on Food & Family, and Where We Come From, a children’s book co-authored with John Coy, Shannon Gibney, and Diane Wilson. She is a biodynamic craniosacral therapist and Reiki Level III practitioner at United Bodyworkers & Artists Studio in St. Paul www.unitedbodyworkersandartists.com. More at www.sunyungshin.com.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5fdcc50304332e45003ddbf8

Writing From a Place of Deep Listening: A Path to Healing
2021-02-16 18:30 - 20:30
Description: We often view healing as an external, outside remedy that is given to us. However, in this workshop we will explore writing as a tool for listening deeply to ourselves and others. Deep listening can serve as a way of seeing more fully, leading to a path of healing. We’ll start with examining Healing and all its varied external meanings and perceptions. Then we will hold the space of quietness and meditate to clear our minds and see what emerges from our stillness. What is the story that the quiet tells us? We’ll write from this space as well as generate lists and prompts that can be used later for writing and creative exploration. In the middle we’ll hear from other BiPOC writers who have delved into their truths and shed light on their healing and that of our collective healing in general. Led by Didi Koka. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Instructor bio: Didi Koka is a poet, physician and practitioner. She has been a family physician in community medicine in the Twin Cities for 20 years, serving as Medical Director of Hennepin Healthcare East Lake clinic for 10 of those years. She holds a MFA in poetry from Hamline University and has participated in many readings about town including Heal the Earth Poetry Collective, Cracked Walnut festivals and Literary Peace Series. She is part of the Red Bird Chapbook board and community. She is a buddhist practitioner. She was a children’s practice teacher of mindfulness and meditation for many years and currently helps facilitate BiPOC meditation sitting groups. She has published poems in the redbird broadside series and Minnesota Medicine Magazine.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5fdcc47541505d3a00ed4d7b

Healing the Pain of 2020
2021-01-27 18:30 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
In this More Than a Single Story event, BIPOC healers discuss the traumas of 2020 and the role their healing methods play in communities of color – from the changing needs of clients due to COVID-19 to the murder of George Floyd.
Featuring Ihotu Ali, a founding member of the Minnesota Healing Justice Network; Janice Bad Mocassin, traditionally and spiritually based healer from Dakota Lakota grassroots; Didi Koka, MD, poet and Medical Director of HCMC East Lake Clinic; Houa Lor, Hmong Shaman; Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother’s Hands; and Sun Yung Shin, poet and biodynamic craniosacral therapist and Reiki practitioner.
This event is sponsored by Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality and Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
REGISTER HERE: https://wisdomwayscenter.org/programs-art-exhibits/current-programs/healing-the-pain/

Introduction to Field Recording and Interviewing Techniques
2020-11-18 18:30 - 20:30
Learn about the radio interview process with hands-on practice with KFAI Radio’s Melissa Olson and Ryan Dawes. Explore how to use recording gear and learn about creative interview techniques such as scheduling, preparation, planning questions and follow-up questioning. Ethical issues that come up during interviews will also be explored. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c9be18c81ad450050acf2

Writing for Radio
2020-11-17 18:30 - 20:30
Listen to and read examples of radio writing and discuss how to begin to organize a script with KFAI Radio’s Melissa Olson and Ryan Dawes. Discover different types of audio storytelling, including interviews, two-ways, narrated stories, non-narrated stories, audio postcards and audio essays. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c9b701622433a0050f456

Healing Through Writing
2020-10-17 10:00 - 12:00
Learn tools and techniques for using the journal to tap into our innate abilities to help ourselves heal and restore wellness, and to begin to believe that we are not the problem, the problem is the problem. This workshop is not intended to replace therapy or other healing work you’re doing. Rather, it is intended to enhance other methods of healing that we are engaged in. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c9a748c81ad450050ace7

Processing Identity With Poetry
2020-10-12 18:30 - 20:30
Writing poetry can be a healing experience in navigating one’s identity and emotions. Explore the layers of our identities and their impact on our mental health through writing exercises with writer Diana Nguyen. Participate in discussions on how to process our emotions in written form and learn self-care techniques while exploring these feelings. Bring a notebook. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c99a0e737a32f00c9e187

Dealing With it – People of Color Talk About Mental Health
2020-09-13 14:00 - 16:00
More Than a Single Story is a series of programs that takes place at different venues across the Twin Cities. Founded and curated by writer Carolyn Holbrook, the program strives to break down the stereotyping of people of color by celebrating their diverse voices and experiences.
In this More Than a Single Story discussion, writers, artists and mental health professionals of color will share their experiences with mental health challenges and deconstruct the stories that are told around those issues. Rose McGee will facilitate discussions using her Circle Within a Circle model: first, speakers will share their experiences; next, participants will have the opportunity to replace speakers to respond and continue the conversation; and lastly, all participants will have a chance to engage and deepen their understanding of mental health in Black, Indigenous and communities of color in Minnesota. Speaking: Suleiman Adan, Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, Hye-Kyong Kim, Diana Nguyen, Lola Osunkoya and Susan Mona Power. Opening poet: Diana Nguyen. Moderator: Rose McGee. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
REIGSTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f319457ed8e822400c7f43c
This event is hosted by More Than a Single Story and sponsored by Hennepin County Library. Partner presenters may invite library patrons to attend via Zoom or similar platforms.

Raw Honesty: Writing Your Truth
2020-09-12 15:00 - 17:00
Explore spoken word, written poetry, creative or free writing with guided writing prompts by writer, musician and mental health advocate Suleiman Adan. At the end of the workshop, there will be time for participants to share openly about the writing process, life and the world of mental health. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c98df7c571d2400f509f8

WRITING WORKSHOP: HEALING THROUGH WRITING
2020-05-09 11:00 - 13:00
Instructor: Carolyn Holbrook
Description: When we experience trauma, we feel alone and unprotected. Whether the trauma is physical or psychological, we often feel shame, believing that what happened is our fault. In this workshop we will learn tools and techniques for using the journal to tap into our innate abilities to help ourselves heal and restore wellness, and to begin to believe that we are not the problem, the problem is the problem. This workshop is not intended to replace therapy or other healing work you’re doing. Rather, it is intended to enhance other methods of healing that we are engaged in.
Saturday May 9, 2020 – 11:00-1:00
Excelsior Library
337 Water St., Excelsior, MN 55331

CANCELLED | WRITING WORKSHOP: PROCESSING IDENTITIES WITH POETRY
2020-04-25 13:00 - 15:00
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
Description: Writing poetry can be a healing experience in navigating one’s identities and emotions. In this workshop, we will explore the layers of our identities and how that has an impact on our mental health. We will engage in writing exercises and discussion on how to process our emotions in written form, and self care techniques while exploring these feelings. Please make sure to bring a notebook and pen, and be willing to go deeper within yourself.

CANCELLED | TRADITIONAL HEALERS: AN INTERGENERATIONAL CONVERSATION
2020-04-23 19:00 - 21:00 | MN, United States
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
In this More Than a Single Story conversation, traditional healers from the African American, Hmong, Native American, and Somali communities will respond to questions youth representatives from each community have about their culture and customs, and the importance of continuing traditional healing practices in today’s world.
Featuring: Healers — Hmong Shaman, Chad T. Lee, African American elder Atum Azzahir, Ojibwe Healer Donna LaChappelle, and Somali poet/healer Ifrah Mansour
Young people: Pang Xiong, Terrence Shambley, Anna Cardon, and Ismail Sheikhomar

CANCELLED | DEALING WITH IT: PEOPLE OF COLOR TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
2020-04-19 14:00 - 16:00
Due to COVID-19, we have cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
In this More Than a Single Story discussion, participants will explore the complexities around mental health in communities of color. Rose McGee will implement her Circle within a Circle model to facilitate this discussion. The initial circle will include mental health professionals and writers and artists who have experienced mental health challenges in their lives or the lives of their families.
During this portion, the speakers will talk to one another as if no one is in the room, and audience members will have an opportunity to listen to a conversation they may not otherwise hear. Following the initial circle, audience members will have the opportunity to replace the speakers in the circle to respond and continue the conversation. All participants will then have a chance to respond and engage in conversation with one another to deepen their understanding of mental health in the IPOC communities and deconstruct the stories that are told around these issues.
Featuring: Suleiman Adan, Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, Hie Kyong Kim, Diana Nguyen, Lola Osunkoya, Donald Thomas
Opening poet: Diana Nguyen
Moderator: Rose McGee

CANCELLED | INTRODUCTION TO FIELD RECORDING AND INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES
2020-04-02 18:00 - 19:45
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
Instructors: Melissa Olson and Ryan Dawes
Description: Melissa and Ryan will walk through the interview process with students interviewing each other. We will explore how to use recording gear, including recorder settings, microphone setup and setting, as well as creative interview techniques such as scheduling, preparation, planning questions, and follow-up questioning. We’ll also briefly explore ethical issues that come up during interviews.

CANCELLED | WORKSHOP: WRITING FOR RADIO / AUDIO STORYTELLING
2020-03-16 18:00 - 19:45
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
Instructors: Melissa Olson & Ryan Dawes
Admission: FREE
Writing a radio script is vastly different from print journalism, academic writing, or creative non-fiction. We’ll listen and read examples of radio writing and discuss how to begin to organize a script. We will talk about different types of audio storytelling, including interviews, two-ways, narrated stories, non-narrated stories, audio postcards, and audio essays.

CANCELLED | WRITING YOUR TRUTH
2020-03-16 17:30 - 19:30
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
WRITING YOUR TRUTH
Instructor: Suleiman Adan
This workshop will be a creative yet therapeutic space that allows participants to convey their innermost feelings and thoughts unfiltered (raw). This can be done through spoken word, written poetry, creative or free writing. Participants will be given prompts to guide them. As a musician, the instructor believes that music plays a huge role in the creative process. Music will be playing in the background for inspiration. And the end of the workshop, there will be time for participants to share openly about the writing process, life, and about the world of mental health.
