Prairie Gate Literary Festival

Free writing workshops with talented Native American authors.
https://morris.umn.edu/prairie-gate-literary-festival/register-pglf

We have another great reading happening tonight at Briggs Library on the UMN Morris campus.

We hope you are as excited as we are to have Gwen Nell Westerman, the current poet laureate of Minnesota, give a public reading tonight at 7:00pm in Briggs Library on the main level. Books from all of the PGLF authors will be available for sale. Refreshments will be served.

Prairie Gate Literary Festival Schedule:

Gwen Nell Westerman Reading, Oct. 6 7:00pm
Native Voices Author Panel, Oct 7 3:00pm
Teresa Peterson & Walter LaBatte, Jr Reading, Oct. 7 7:30pm
Craft Talk Workshops, Oct. 8 10:00am-11:30am & 12:30pm-2:00pm

The current poet laureate of Minnesota Gwen Nell Westerman will be among the special guests at the Prairie Gate Literary Festival Oct 6-8. She is the co-author of Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota which won a 2013 Minnesota Book Award. Her most recent book of poetry, Songs, Blood Deep, was released earlier this year.
For a complete festival schedule visit:
https://morris.umn.edu/prairie-gate-literary-festival/schedule-events

Can't wait for the Prairie Gate Literary Festival to begin on October 6? Here's a preview featuring two-spirit author Joshua Whitehead from his 2018 novel Jonny Appleseed.

"I knocked on Momma's front door thinking about her, wondering if she was a lightning-struck tree like me, all rare and beauteous in our pain. I hoped she would give me that slap upside the head, reel me into her weathered arms, and speak to me in that old fashioned Cree, kisakihitin, m'boy, kisakihitin, and tell me stories of how we've lived, and loved, and grown."

We're busy gearing up for the Prairie Gate Literary Festival from October 6th - 8th on the University of Minnesota Morris campus! We'll be joined by authors Gwen Nell Westerman, Joshua Whitehead, Thomas Peacock, Teresa Peterson, and Walter LaBatte.

Thursday, Gwen Nell Westerman and Joshua Whitehead will be giving readings from 7PM to 9PM. Friday, Thomas Peacock and Teresa Peterson & Walter LaBatte will be giving readings from 7:30PM to 9:30PM. Saturday we'll have free craft talk workshops from 10AM to 2PM with a break for lunch between. You can find more information online at the University of Minnesota Morris website: https://morris.umn.edu/prairie-gate-literary-festival

We hope to see you there!

Join us on Saturday, October 8th for a series of free Craft Talk Workshops! The day will feature two different sessions, one between 10:00 AM and 11:30 AM and the other between 12:30 PM and 2:00 PM, with a break for lunch between. These workshops feature wonderful authors Joshua Whitehead, Teresa Peterson & Walter LaBatte, Gwen Nell Westerman, and Thomas Peacock.

We encourage those who are interested to pre-register online at the following link: https://morris.umn.edu/prairie-gate-literary-festival/register-pglf. We will also have same day registration available from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM the morning of.

Big things are happening on the prairie! Don't miss out on our award-winning Native American authors. Readings and free writing workshops. Book for sale. Refreshments at all public events.

https://morris.umn.edu/prairie-gate-literary-festival

Our final two authors for the 2022 Prairie Gate Literary Festival are Teresa Peterson and Walter LaBatte, co-authors of Voices from Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stories and Storytellers, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Teresa is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and a citizen of the Upper Sioux Community. Teresa earned her doctorate in Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth and her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota Morris.

Walter ”Super” LaBatte, Jr. of the Pejuhutazizi Kapi has become known in native circles for his traditional process of tanning deer hides, making beaded moccasins, drums, and his pasdayapi (corn soup). He is also an accomplished historian.

Award-winning author and member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Thomas Peacock, will be participating in the Prairie Gate Literary Festival. He is the author of a dozen books on Ojibwe history and culture, Native education, racism, and fiction. Ojibwe Waasa Inaabida (We Look In All Directions) and The Good Path both won a Minnesota Book Award. In 2020 he was named the Indie adult fiction writer of the year for The Wolf’s Trail.