I subscribe to the Wordserve Water Cooler, a community blog that shares posts by writers, editors and publishing types as a resource for aspiring and practicing writers. I’ll admit, I mainly subscribe as a daily reminder that I should be writing more important things than navel-gazing columns and comedy sketches about talking fruit. I feel… Read More →
Dylan Days names 2013 B.J. Rolfzen writing contest winners
April 26, 2013 by 1 Comment
As many of you might recall, I am one of the co-organizers of Dylan Days in Hibbing, Minnesota. This arts and culture event celebrates Bob Dylan and the arts community of his Iron Range hometown. Dylan Days will be May 23-26, 2013. This year we’re celebrating Bob Dylan’s Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded last year… Read More →
Still time to enter poems, stories in Dylan Days contest
February 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As a shiftless blogger with dreams of an illustrious writing career I know that you, a shiftless blog reader, probably pine for the same. How about you try a contest that I help run for Dylan Days in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota? The B.J. Rolfzen Memorial Creative Writing Contest is named for Dylan’s… Read More →
Dylan Days readies for 2013, calls for writers
January 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Robert Zimmerman fronts the Golden Chords at the Hibbing Memorial Building Little Theater in 1958. (Copyright: Monte Edwardson, the guitarist pictured at left. LeRoy Hoikkala is the drummer.) I continue to work with Dylan Days, the Hibbing-based arts organization honoring Bob Dylan every year in his Iron Range hometown. The big shindig will be May… Read More →
The writing life at MinnesotaBrown.com
December 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This is just a reminder that this blog is just one of several ongoing writing projects. You can hear my Northern Community Radio commentaries on the Morning Show and Between You and Me. My column appears every Sunday in the Hibbing (Minn.) Daily Tribune. I write and produce Northern Community Radio’s Great Northern Radio Show…. Read More →
Ira Glass on creativity: work is the answer
September 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
As a public radio guy I look to Ira Glass of “This American Life” much the way one of the puppets on the “Sprout” network must look to Big Bird of “Sesame Street. Yeah, we’re in the same field. We even have the same parent organization (NPR/PBS). Yeah, we share some fundamental interests and skills…. Read More →
AUDIO: "Call Me Maybe," life theme songs & plight of frogs
September 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
So I went and did it. I downloaded “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jespen. Sure, I’m late to the party. The song peaked in popularity months ago with the downright literary refrain: “Hey, I just met youand this is crazy,but here’s my number,so call me maybe.” I actually listened to the Cookie Monster parody… Read More →
AUDIO SPECIAL: Feel lucky? Try my superstition sketch
September 5, 2012 by 1 Comment
A while back I stopped posting promos for my appearances on “Between You and Me.” It was hard to make the sentiment “Listen to me! Take interest in my work!” compelling in the blog format, which already implies so much of that. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped writing and producing for this unique public… Read More →
Dylan Days names top poems, stories for 2012
April 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Dylan Days in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, announced the winners of the 2012 B.J. Rolfzen Memorial Creative Writing Contest over the weekend. As always, it’s an interesting mix of midwestern, national and international writers. I help coordinate the contest, serving as one of three fiction judges, editor of the journal and co-chair of… Read More →
Dylan Days writing contest deadline is March 1
February 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Dylan Days is an annual arts event in Hibbing celebrating famed alumnus Bob Dylan and the arts community of the region. I have had the privilege of serving in various leadership roles for the event since 2001 and founded and edited the Dylan Days lit magazine “Talkin’ Blues.” That publication features the winners and finalists… Read More →
