Ninth Chapter of Statewide One Book Program Features
We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA, October 17, 2022 – The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, as the Minnesota Center for the Book, announces the ninth chapter of One Book | One Minnesota, a statewide book club that invites Minnesotans of all ages to read a common title and come together virtually to enjoy, reflect, and discuss. The ninth title for the program is We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World edited by Carolyn Holbrook & David Mura. Presented in partnership with State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, the program aims to bring Minnesotans together and highlight the role of libraries as community connectors.
From October 17 through December 12, through their local libraries, Minnesotans will be invited to read the featured book selection and will have access to reading guides, and virtual book club discussions. Readers can access the ebook for free on Ebooks Minnesota for eight weeks.
All Minnesotans are invited to participate in a statewide discussion with the author:
Virtual Author Conversation
Wednesday, December 7th, 7:00 p.m.
Featured contributors:
Carolyn Holbrook, Douglas Kearney, Ed Bok Lee, Ricardo Levins Morales, David Mura, & Melissa Olson
Free and open to the public | Registration required
In addition to the digital format, hard copies of the book will be available through public libraries, and through independent stores across the state. Links to resources and more information can be found at thefriends.org/onebook.
About We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World
In this collection, Indigenous writers and writers of color bear witness to one of the most unsettling years in the history of the United States. Essays and poems vividly reflect and comment on the traumas we endured in 2020, beginning with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, deepened by the blatant murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and the uprisings that immersed the city into the epicenter of passionate, worldwide demands for justice. In inspired and incisive writing these contributors speak unvarnished truths not only to the original and pernicious racism threaded through the American experience but also to the deeply personal, in essays about family, loss, food culture, economic security, and mental health. Their call and response is united here to rise and be heard.
We Are Meant to Rise lifts up the astonishing variety of BIPOC writers in Minnesota and meets the events of the day, the year, the centuries before, again and again, with powerful testament to the intrinsic and unique value of the human voice.
About the Editors
Carolyn Holbrook is founder and director of More Than a Single Story, as well as the founder of SASE: The Write Place. She is a writer, educator, and an advocate for the healing power of the arts. Her essay collection Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify received a Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. She is coauthor of Dr. Josie Johnson’s memoir Hope in the Struggle, and her essays have been published widely, in A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota and Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota, as well as many other publications. She was the first person of color to win the Kay Sexton Award from the Minnesota Book Awards and The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library for contributions to Minnesota literature.
David Mura has written ten books, including the memoirs Turning Japanese, a New York Times Notable Book; Where the Body Meets Memory; and four poetry collections, including After We Lost Our Way, a National Poetry Contest winner; The Colors of Desire, which received the Carl Sandburg Award; Angels for the Burning; The Last Incantations; and A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing. He teaches at VONA, a writers’ conference for writers of color, and has worked with Alexs Pate’s Innocent Classroom, a program designed to improve relationships between teachers and students of color.
Read bios for all contributors here.
One Book | One Minnesota is presented by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, as the Minnesota Center for the Book, in partnership with State Library Services and sponsored by SPIRE Credit Union. Program partners also include Council of Regional Public Library System Administrators; Mackin VIA; Minitex; the Minnesota Department of Education; and University of Minnesota Press. This program is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, as well as through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Links to resources and more information can be found at thefriends.org/onebook.
About The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library:
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library is the Library of Congress-designated Center for the Book in Minnesota. As our state’s Center for the Book, The Friends promotes reading, literacy, libraries, and books statewide. An independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1945, The Friends acts as a catalyst for libraries to strengthen and inspire their communities. The Friends invests in the Saint Paul Public Library through fundraising, advocacy, and programming; as a result, our Library is a nationally-recognized leader in serving its community. The Friends also serves libraries across the country through its consulting services, Library Strategies. For more information, contact The Friends at 651-222-3242 or visit thefriends.org.
About Minnesota State Library Services
State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), partners with libraries to achieve equity and excellence in our collective work for Minnesotans. Division staff are consultants who help libraries plan, develop and implement high-quality services that address community needs. State Library Services administers federal grant, state aid, and state grant programs that benefit all types of libraries.
About Ebooks Minnesota
Ebooks Minnesota is an online ebook collection for all Minnesotans. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects for readers of all ages, and features content from our state’s independent publishers, including some of our best literature and nonfiction. Ebooks Minnesota is a joint project of Minitex and the Minnesota Department of Education, State Library Services. It is hosted on the Mackin VIA platform, which helps provide barrier-free access to everyone in Minnesota. The collection was made possible in part by funding from the Minnesota Department of Education through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.