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Northland arts mag Oeuvre sets sail amid turbulent times
Sophisticated readers of this blog (all 12 of you) know that Northern Minnesota has a surprisingly deep arts community. From visual artists to photographers to writers and poets, we are much more than beer and hypothermia. Thus, you should know that a new online arts, literature and culture publication called Oeuvre Magazine based in Duluth…
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Come writers and critics …
The Sunday Hibbing Daily Tribune ran a Melissa Cox story about the Dylan Days Creative Writing Contest. I am one of the organizers of Dylan Days, an annual arts event in Hibbing, Minnesota, that celebrates Bob Dylan, literature, music and visual art. This year the event runs from May 21-24, 2009. The writing contest and…
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Give the people what they want
Garrison Keillor writes a weekly column called “The Old Scout” which appears in several newspapers around Minnesota and the country. During the Bush Administration, Keillor often focused on politics but this piece from last week was an amusing look at the act of writing for a popular audience. He argues that books can be very…
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Iron Range arts event calls for writers, poets and playwrights for annual contest
One of my many projects as an cultural and political operative on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range is Dylan Days. I am one of three co-chairs of this annual arts event in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing. One of my main tasks is the coordination of the Dylan Days Creative Writing Contest, which recognizes new and…
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Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 5
Here is the final installment (this week) of “life as an Iron Range blogger,” the diversionary exercise that allows me to keep content on the blog while I work on my book. Here is the Hull Rust Mine on Hibbing’s north side. This isn’t natural. Every crook and cranny of this pit was dug by…
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Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 4
Book revisions continue through the week. Here I continue the visual tour of life as an Iron Range blogger.It’s not all good. Sometimes bugs like these land on your shoulder or leg. They’re huge and they bite. This one is now a lobbyist working for a confederation of energy and transmission line companies. It will…
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Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 3
Work on my book continues, so I continue with the tour of images that make up life as an Iron Range blogger. One of the interesting things about living on the Range is that you need to find entertainment in unusual places. We don’t have night clubs and Tom Petty never comes here. The names…
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Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 2
I’m working on other projects this week, so instead of my normal posts I’m sharing a glimpse into some of the images that make up my life as an Iron Range blogger. When people think of the Range they might think of mines, rough-looking blue collar towns, piles of red dirt, pine trees and lakes.…
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Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 1
It’s officially summer in my world, which — unlike other teachers — means more work than ever. I have a book due June 16, a summer course starting next week and a legislative campaign committee to fire up. Therefore, this week and perhaps the next few weeks will be light on blogging. Instead I’ll be…
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Snow Day Roundup
Schools are closed across Northeastern Minnesota today, including the college where I work. I get another day (two in one week!) to catch up my ungodly to-do list. One item on my to-do list is to compile the results of the Dylan Days Creative Writing contest. We should be announcing winners soon. We run five…
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Dylan Days announces schedule for May 22-25, 2008
If you didn’t know, I am the co-chair and volunteer media coordinator for Dylan Days in Hibbing — a celebration of the Iron Range’s most famous son, Bob Dylan, and the arts community of the region. We’ve recently posted our schedule for the 2008 event which runs May 22-25 (perhaps you caught my blatant sales…
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I return, bearing the head of the dragon called First Draft
I still have to mop up the blood on the last essay, but I’ve had a good week of writing for my book of Iron Range essays and finally feel like I can dabble in the time vortex that is blogging. Thanks to the person or persons who contributed so many fine lines of dialogue…
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The arts, the Iron Range and the resulting dilemma for many young people
The Hibbing Daily Tribune, like many local papers, is running its “annual edition” this month. The edition spans four consecutive Sundays and includes large feature sections that, back in the day, were huge advertising revenue builders for the paper. They’re not as big as they used to be, but the paper still puts a lot…
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Maybe I’m in the wrong business
As a writer, I find an article like this to be troubling: Reading’s new chapter?A study paints a grim picture of U.S. reading habits, renewing the debate on literacy and learning in the digital age. By Sarah T. Williams, Star TribuneLast update: November 19, 2007 – 12:01 AMIs reading at risk? Or is there a…
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Bananas on deadline
I’m going to give readers a glimpse into the creative process. I write two things on a weekly deadline, a newspaper column and a radio essay. The radio essay topic is generally dictated by KAXE’s “Between You and Me” show topic that week. In a way, that makes this piece easier to write because it’s…