We now have our mnLIT winners for 2009, a grand total of 38 Minnesota poets and writers, whose work was selected from a pool of several hundred submissions. Thanks to all for the robust response to this year's literary series!
mnLIT is a competitive literary program presented by mnartists.org, in collaboration with Magers and Quinn Booksellers, which consists of the What Light Poetry Project and the miniStories flash fiction series. mnLIT showcases original work by Minnesota poets and writers and is sponsored, in part, by The Twin Cities Decider and its parent organization, The Onion. This year's winners were selected by a panel of ten nationally accomplished writers and poets, among them Leif Enger (So Brave, Young and Handsome, Plainsong), Diana Joseph (I'm Sorry You Feel That Way), Lise Erdrich (Night Train), and Dobby Gibson (Skirmish, Polar). This year alone, by way of mnLIT, mnartists.org will publish over 40 original poems and short stories by local authors.
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The 2009 mnLIT winners will present their triumphant pieces in two live readings this summer, both of which are free and open to the public:
What Light Poetry Project winners will read their poems Sunday, July 19 from 5-7 pm at Magers and Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis. Plus: the miniStories grand prize-winning flash fiction authors will read their victorious short stories.
miniStories victors will read their winning flash fiction on Monday, August 17, from 7-9 pm at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. Plus: What Light's grand prize champions will perform their winning poems.
Even if you can't make the live readings, read some of the best new work by Minnesota writers on mnartists.org, where a new poem or story is published each week. Or, if you prefer, listen to our winners read their pieces by downloading a free audio version of the weekly mnLIT story or poem through the Walker's iTunes channel.
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Our 2009 What Light Poetry Project winners:
- Susan Chambers - "Weather Advisory"
- Kirsten Dierking - "Half Asleep"
- Elizabeth Dingmann - "Double Bound"
- Gary Dop - "Bill Bitner at the Henry Doorly Zoo"
- Neil Dyer - "Here, at last"
- Neil Dyer - "Compline"
- Mary Harpin - "We Walked Five Villages"
- Jeff Johnson - "For Theo at Thirteen Months, Hanging From the Woodwork In His Spring-tethered Bucket: A Villanelle"
- Jeff Johnson: "Lake Street"
- Mark Maire - "Freight"
- Dan Pederson - "Parasol"
- Dan Pederson: "From the Windy Trees"
- Todd Pederson - "Flatiron"
- Lynette Reini Grandell - "This Horse's Ears"
- Mike Rollin - "Holloways"
- Darci Schummer - "Hair"
- Darci Schummer - "Archaelogy"
- Kayla Skarbakk - "Mary in Blue"
- Greg Watson - "My Brother's Tattoo"
- Ben Weaver - "Devastations"
The 2009 What Light Poetry Project grand prize-winning poets, selected by jury foremen, Christopher Walters and Jay Peterson are:
- Jeff Johnson - "For Theo at Thirteen Months, Hanging From the Woodwork In His Spring-tethered Bucket: A Villanelle"
- Greg Watson - "My Brother's Tattoo"
- Ben Weaver - "Devastations"
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Our 2009 miniStories flash fiction winners:
- Kelly Barnhill - "Casting Off"
- Brian Beatty - "Velour"
- Amy Bethke - "Henry's Shoes"
- Rebecca Dosch-Brown - "The Trousers"
- Terry Dunham - "The Last Trip to Bradford"
- Heather Goodman - "Racoons"
- Libby Harris - "Baked Eggs"
- Paul Lundgren - "Beat"
- Jorie Miller - "July 29"
- Alison Morse - "The Apartment"
- Rodney Nelsestuen - "Phillipe"
- Rodney Nelsestuen - "Rage"
- Caroline Ore - "Solo Performance"
- Laura Owen - "Tea"
- Jessica Roeder - "Sights"
- Kristin Swanson - "In the Event that I Am Not Paranoid"
- Eric Vrooman - "Performance Review"
- Kris Woll - "Furious"
The 2009 miniStories grand prize-winning authors, selected by jury foreperson, Geoff Herbach are:
- Brian Beatty - "Velour"
- Rebecca Dosch-Brown - "The Trousers"
- Kris Woll - "Furious"
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You'll be able to catch the newly commissioned stories and poems from our six mnLIT grand prize-winning authors throughout the year on mnartists.org.
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AND NOW, MEET OUR ESTEEMED mnLIT JURORS:
For this year's What Light Poetry Project competition our panel of readers is:
Dobby Gibson (Skirmish, Polar)
Deborah Keenan (Willow Room, Green Door; Kingdoms)
Leslie Adrienne Miller (Resurrection Trade, Eat Quite Everything You See)
Joyce Sidman (Red Sings from the Treetops, This is Just to Say)
Connie Wanek (Hartley Field, On Speaking Terms, which is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press)
For this year's miniStories flash fiction competition our panel of readers is:
David Oppegaard (The Suicide Collectors)
Leif Enger (So Brave, Young, and Handsome; Peace Like a River)
Lise Erdrich (Night Train)
Jon Fasman (The Unpossessed City, The Geographer's Library)
Diana Joseph (I'm Sorry You Feel That Way)
In addition to these fine folks, Geoff Herbach, for a second year, is serving as the lead juror for miniStories; and Christopher Walters and Jay Peterson of Magers and Quinn have taken over at the helm of the What Light poetry competition.