Contributors
Alison Aune is an artist and art educator. She has an active exhibition and presentation record locally, nationally, and internationally. She received the Arrowhead Regional George Morrison Artist Award (2020). Her work was inspired by Harjo’s “Eagle Poem.”
Winnie Benjamin-Hall is a PSEO student at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community college. Her hobbies Include tennis at the CHS and tutoring at FDLTCC. “Everyone Has a Heartache: A Blues” inspired her poem “Time That Was Stolen.”
Miranda Chelstrom is a 20-year old college student and part-time worker at Kwik Trip. She graduated from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in the summer of 2021. She earned her AAS in Criminal Justice and AS. She currently attends the University of Minnesota Duluth, studying psychology. In her free time, she likes to read and write, work on her physical health at the gym and play with her two Pomeranians. Her work was inspired by “Speaking Tree.”
Jan Chronister is retired from teaching writing at FDLTCC. She now spends time on her own writing and tending her gardens. Find more about Jan at janchronisterpoetry.wordpress.com. Her work was inspired by “Motion,” “Invisible Fish,” and “Eagle Poem.”
Tiffany Copeland is currently attending school at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College to obtain her AA degree. Her main goal is to transfer to get her BA degree in graphic design. Her hometown is Grand Marais, Minnesota, but she has lived in Duluth for the past six years. Her hobbies include painting, drawing, hiking, ice skating, and swimming. Her work was inspired by “Insomnia and the Seven Steps to Grace” by Joy Harjo.
Cameron Farah is a swamp man from the swamps of central Minnesota. He enjoys origami, sunsets, and armature paintings. He most enjoys epic fantasy novels, and historical documentaries. He is not a fan of sharing personal details with strangers. His work was inspired by “Grace.”
Ava Fosness is a 9th grader at Fond du Lac Ojibwe School.
Julie Gard is a prose poet whose collections include Home Studies and Scrap: On Louise Nevelson. She teaches writing at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Her poems were inspired by multiple works in Harjo’s collection She Had Some Horses, which she reread as she worked on them. In particular, they were inspired by “Remember,” “Vision,” and “Leaving.”
Linda LeGarde Grover is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and writer of poetry, fiction, essays and memoir. Her poem was inspired by “Becoming Seventy” from An American Sunrise.
Berlin Herrera is a ninth grader at Fond Du Lac Ojibwe School.
Bradley Hoder is a person in long term recovery, pursuing a career in chemical dependency counseling, which he is currently studying at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. His poem was inspired by “Break My Heart.”
Denise Huckabee is a 42-year-old single mother of 3. She moved up from Georgia in 2019 for a change of scenery and a new beginning. She is finishing up her second year and Internship for LADC/Chemical Dependency. She loves writing. Her work was inspired by “Fires.”
Miranda Jackson is the proud mother of four beautiful souls. She is earning her BA in social work while working as an adolescent addiction counselor for the Leech Lake Band. Miranda was inspired by Joy Harjo’s poem titled “For Calling the Spirit Back From Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet,” which reminded her to wake up and be present.
Alyssa Johnson is a Duluth, Minnesota based writer, photographer, and multimedia artist. Both “Fish out of Water “and “New Horizons” were inspired by the work presented in Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings.
Serena Joy is a retired pastor who lives, works, and writes in Cloquet, Minnesota. She has been studying writing and Native American history at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Currently, she is beginning a new ministry as the visiting pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Cloquet, Minnesota. Joy delights in being with her daughter, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Her work was inspired by An American Sunrise.
Meridel Kahl retired in 2013 after 45 years of teaching and discovered the joys of writing poetry. She is grateful for the daily inspiration she finds in the many moods of Lake Superior. Her work was inspired by “Eagle Poem.”
Lesbian mom and writer, Maggie Kazel moved here to raise her daughter by GitchiGummee. Her writings are found in journals such as Sinister Wisdom, The Thunderbird Review, and Sibling Rivalry Press. Her work was inspired by “For a Girl Becoming” from Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings and “Remember” from She Had Some Horses.
Rebecca Lynn is a mother, daughter, sister, and friend who considers Lake Superior a necessity in life: finding inspiration, restoration, song, and dance in the ancient waters of the Greatest Lake.
Seeley Mangelsen is a full-time UMD student and is very excited to be sharing two poems inspired by “An American Sunrise” and “Praise the Rain.”
Angie Mason lives in Duluth, Minnesota. Her poems have been published in such journals as Nashville Review, Grist, and Tar River Poetry. Her work was inspired by “Perhaps the World Ends Here” and “Remember.”
Kim McAlear is a fairly new resident of Duluth from southern Oregon. She loves gardening, foraging, photography, and spending time in the woods running and hiking. An American Sunrise inspired her pieces.
Liz Minette lives and writes from Esko, Minnesota. Inspiration comes from walks, gardening and work. She spins tunes for KUMD in Duluth, Minnesota. Her work was inspired by She Had Some Horses.
Tim Moder is an Indigenous poet living in northern Wisconsin. He has published poems in Pittsburgh Poetry Journal, Penumbra, South Florida Poetry Journal, as well as others. His work was inspired by “She Had Some Horses.”
Naomi Joy Nance is an author, visual and performance artist living in Aitkin County, Minnesota. She is currently a student at Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College and has recently published a children’s book titled Jim and the Ants. Her work was inspired by “Perhaps the World Ends Here.”
Nigig (Otter) is student at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. He is from Onigum, Minnesota, and is an enrolled member of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe. He enjoys learning the Anishinaabe language and living the Anishinaabe ways of life. His work was inspired by An American Sunrise.
Gregory Opstad is a retired teacher. He has homes in Cloquet, Minnesota and Cochiti Lake, New Mexico. His poems have appeared in several poetry journals and anthologies. His chapbook, Lake Country, was released in 2013. The format for his poem “So Is the Land” was inspired by Joy Harjo’s poem, “She Had Some Horses.” The theme came from “My House is the Red Earth.”
Sheila Packa is a poet and writer. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College and has taught creative writing and composition at Lake Superior College. She leads poetry and creative writing workshops in community settings and often performs her work in music and media installations with her creative partner Kathy McTavish. She received a 2020 MSAB Arts Initiative Award for Poetry, a fellowship from the Finlandia Foundation, two Loft McKnight Awards (in poetry and in prose), a Loft Mentor Award, and fellowships and grants from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. She has four books of poetry and edited the book Migrations, an anthology of Lake Superior writers. She served as Duluth’s Poet Laureate in 2010-2012. Her work was inspired by “Becoming Seventy,” “Call It Fear,” “Let There Be No Regrets,” and “First Morning.”
Deborah Rasmussen retired from her nursing career in 2012, and moved from Florida to Duluth, MN, where she enjoys the welcoming and energetic community of poets. Her work was inspired by “It’s Raining in Honolulu” and “Trickster.”
As a scientist, Susan Rees investigated life, asked questions that could be answered with “how.” Now she contemplates life, asks questions that might be answered with why. She was inspired by An American Sunrise.
Brianna Reynolds is a sophomore at FDLTCC. She is turning twenty-one this year. She lives in Cloquet with her grandpa and dog. She is kind and loves helping others. Her poem was inspired by “First Morning.”
Nick Trelstad is a poet and English teacher from northern Minnesota. His work was inspired by “Eagle Poem.”
Ivy Vainio (she/her) is a proud African American and Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe Direct Descendant. She is a racial justice advocate and uses her photography to reflect Indigenous, BIPOC, Womxn, and LGBTQIA2S voice, identity and lived experiences. Her work entitled, “Ojibwe Granmas Are Everything,” was inspired by Joy Harjo’s poem “Remember” from She Had Some Horses.
Suzanne VanHoever lives in the woods near Wrenshall, Minnesota, with her sleepy cat. She loves being surrounded by nature and piles of books. Her poem was inspired by Joy Harjo’s poem “Redbird Love” as well as Harjo’s use of nature throughout her work.
Kaitlyn Walsh (Ojibwe) moved to Nagaajiwanaang to preserve her family’s foodways alongside her grandmother. Words will come to her after running in the woods, praying by Gichigami, or gardening barefoot. Her poems were inspired by “This is My Heart” in Crazy Brave: A Memoir.
Nina Woerheide is a young poet and creative writer from Northern Minnesota. Focusing primarily on the short story and the novel, a lifetime of writing has directed her to the focal point of poetic expression. Her poem was inspired by “Ahhhh Saxophone.”
Liz Wright lives in Duluth, Minnesota with her husband, cat, and dog. Her children have moved to other places, but she also did move to Duluth from Boston. Her work was inspired by An American Sunrise, specifically “Exile of Memory.”