Ann Regan Named 2025 Kay Sexton Award Recipient
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA, March 25, 2025 – The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library announced today that editor Ann Regan is the winner of the 2025 Kay Sexton Award for her significant contributions to and leadership in Minnesota’s literary community. The award is presented annually to an individual or organization in recognition of longstanding dedication and outstanding work in fostering books, reading, and literary activity in Minnesota and is part of the 2025 Minnesota Book Awards, presented this year by sponsor Education Minnesota.
Regan grew up in Billings, Montana, and graduated from the University of Montana with a double major in history and Russian. While working as a summer volunteer for the Montana Historical Society, she was mentored by Vivian Paladin, editor of the society’s quarterly journal. That work led her to a temporary position as a research assistant at the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) Press, where she remained for 45 years in various positions, retiring as the editor-in-chief in 2024.
During her time with MNHS Press, Regan acquired approximately 350 books and was directly involved with the editing of close to 300 of those. She says Evelyn Fairbanks’s Days of Rondo was the book that “made [her] an editor,” and taught her about the collaborative relationship that was possible between author and editor.
The authors she has worked with have praised her intellectual engagement, literary integrity, flexibility and willingness to learn from them about areas outside her expertise. Diane Wilson (author of Spirit Car), says, “Ann and I worked through challenging cultural questions in ways that left us both with a deeper understanding of the other’s perspective.”
Regan has been a stalwart for the diverse voices that make up Minnesota’s history and present, by standing firm behind anthologies that highlight historically underrepresented communities and working to improve the relationship between MNHS Press and Native writers. Says Anton Treuer, “Her leadership in this effort transformed our understanding of Minnesota and Native American History.”
One of the most well-known of these anthologies is A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, edited by Sun Yung Shin. The book was published in 2016, just before the murder of Philando Castile, and instantly became a discussion piece in book clubs and library groups around the state. The book has continued to “spark essential conversations,” according to Nina Archabal, director emerita, Minnesota Historical Society, in the years since its publication and again became vital reading in 2020 as part of the One Book | One Minnesota program.
In addition to her work alongside Minnesota’s authors, Regan has shared her expertise with the literary community in Minnesota, not only through editing projects but through writing and public service. Her prose has been published in journals and anthologies as well as in the book Irish in Minnesota. She has served on boards and committees for the Minnesota Book Publishers’ Roundtable, the Western History Association, the Council of the Northern Great Plains History Conference, The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, and other organizations. She has regularly given presentations about editing and publishing at Augsburg University, the University of Minnesota, and St. Catherine University, and has taught classes at the Loft Literary Center.
The Kay Sexton Award panel praised the way Regan has worked with writers throughout her career, her willingness to take a chance on an idea and help the author or editor develop that idea into a book. The panel stated that Regan has exemplified “sheer dedication and devotion to literature…she is everything this award stands for.”
Regan will be honored at the 37th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony at the Ordway, Tuesday, April 22. Awards will also be presented to winners in ten book categories. The Preface begins at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Awards Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $27 and can be purchased at www.thefriends.org/mnba. The event will also be livestreamed. Registration for the free livestream is also at the above address. The official hashtag for social media is #mnbookawards.
About the Minnesota Book Awards:
The Minnesota Book Awards is a year-long program of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library that connects readers and writers throughout the state with the stories of our neighbors. The process begins in the fall with book submissions and continues through winter with two rounds of judging. Winners are announced at the Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony each spring. Woven throughout the season are events that promote the authors and connect the world of Minnesota books – writers, artists, illustrators, publishers, editors, and more – to readers throughout the state. In recognition of this and its other statewide programs and services, the Library of Congress has recognized The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the state’s designated Center for the Book. For more information visit thefriends.org/mnba.
About The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library:
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library acts as a catalyst for libraries to strengthen and inspire their communities. An independent, nonprofit organization established in 1945, 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, and promotes literacy, reading, and libraries statewide as the Library of Congress’s designated Minnesota Center for the Book. For more information, contact The Friends at 651-222-3242 or visit thefriends.org.