On Nov. 20, 2015, the Minnesota Writing Project hosted a writing marathon at the National Writing Project Annual Meeting. It was a well-attended love fest for marathon fans from around the country. Many thanks to New Orleans Writing Marathon Retreat friend Michelle Shaw and her crew (pictured below) for facilitating this awesome event!
9:50 a.m. The Newsroom with Richard, Jane, Anne, Kirk, and Kate
To our surprise, the Bloody Marys arrive with beer chasers.
“It’s a Minnesota/ Wisconsin thing,” explains our server. Our drink orders have redeemed us in her eyes after asking her to clean off the one dirty table in the place, just the right size for our group.
The Newsroom is only two blocks from the Hilton, and it has a beautiful, enormous bar …show more content…
I can almost see the flowers sitting in the window still, trembling pink orchids above the frozen streets.
A surprise. A decadence. A presence here across the miles.
Lucinda Williams plays on the restaurant sound system, bringing up the tears again but making me remember that I need more Lucinda Williams in my life.
Out the window, a forklift scoops loads of steaming asphalt from a dump truck and carts it away to parts unknown. Clouds of grey smoke rise up past my orchids and fade into the grey Minnesota sky.
Late the following evening…
At the Dakota Jazz Club, the marathon continues with a different group of friends–Darin, Cathie, and Dan–after our NCTE presentation. We write after listening to the stunning gospel-infused blues of Kelley Hunt who makes us weepy with a song called “Beautiful Bones.” Eventually only Dan and I are left. MC Longshot is on the mic, and the club transforms slowly before our eyes into an entirely different venue. We sit in the estuary zone and write in the dim, churning nightlife vibe.
Minneapolis has been the scene of another police shooting of a young black man, and protests are
9:50 a.m. The Newsroom with Richard, Jane, Anne, Kirk, and Kate
To our surprise, the Bloody Marys arrive with beer chasers.
“It’s a Minnesota/ Wisconsin thing,” explains our server. Our drink orders have redeemed us in her eyes after asking her to clean off the one dirty table in the place, just the right size for our group.
The Newsroom is only two blocks from the Hilton, and it has a beautiful, enormous bar …show more content…
I can almost see the flowers sitting in the window still, trembling pink orchids above the frozen streets.
A surprise. A decadence. A presence here across the miles.
Lucinda Williams plays on the restaurant sound system, bringing up the tears again but making me remember that I need more Lucinda Williams in my life.
Out the window, a forklift scoops loads of steaming asphalt from a dump truck and carts it away to parts unknown. Clouds of grey smoke rise up past my orchids and fade into the grey Minnesota sky.
Late the following evening…
At the Dakota Jazz Club, the marathon continues with a different group of friends–Darin, Cathie, and Dan–after our NCTE presentation. We write after listening to the stunning gospel-infused blues of Kelley Hunt who makes us weepy with a song called “Beautiful Bones.” Eventually only Dan and I are left. MC Longshot is on the mic, and the club transforms slowly before our eyes into an entirely different venue. We sit in the estuary zone and write in the dim, churning nightlife vibe.
Minneapolis has been the scene of another police shooting of a young black man, and protests are