by Chloë Moore ’24
On Saturday October 14th, The Words sent myself and two other intrepid investigators (read: big nerds) on a nail-biting mission to uncover the secrets of the Rain Taxi-sponsored Twin Cities Book Festival. For a few harrowing hours, Charley Eatchel ’23, Birdie Keller ’24, and I crept through aisle after aisle of booths, hosted by everyone from self-published authors to major Twin Cities presses like Milkweed Editions, Coffee House, and Graywolf. Local arts and writing organizations were represented, as were newspapers, universities, and a range of literary magazines.
The festival paints a vibrant picture of the incredible literary arts scene here in the Twin Cities (and teaches an important lesson about what happens when English majors with a roomy tote bag are capable of when left unattended and surrounded by books). Meandering between tables, festival-goers could learn about submission opportunities, places to volunteer, and internships at a variety of presses and organizations.
Also represented at the festival were two of our own English professors. Professor Emma Törzs appeared on a panel as part of the Minnesota Author Showcase alongside Steven Brust, P. L. Hampton, and David Oppegaard, to talk about her book Ink Blood Sister Scribe, which came out earlier this year. Professor Törzs told The Words, “It was a lot of fun to meet readers after my panel. The highlight was meeting a reader who’s getting her PhD at the U and works with octopuses, and who invited me to both NAME and MEET a baby octopus! I named them Guinevere and will be meeting them today. What a thrill!”
Professor Rachel Gold joined the Minnesota Author Showcase: Middle Grade and YA Edition panel. The Words reached out to Professor Gold, who shared that the “fairly diverse bunch, both in terms of identities and the kinds of children’s and YA fiction we write,” had so much to talk about in terms of buying queer literature for young people (like Professor Gold’s latest novel, Curious Minds) to the importance of representation across race, ethnicity, and disability that the panel went on longer than initially posted.
Overall, the festival was another great installment in the longstanding literary tradition here in the Twin Cities, and set a great tone for many years of wonderful reading and writing to come.