May Calendar of Events

Click here for our May calendar of events.

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Going to Bartalina

Songs & Stories of Commercial Sailing on the Great Lakes with Folksinger Charlie Maguire 



The Grand Marais Public Library is pleased to host “Going to Bartalina: Songs & Stories of Commercial Sailing on the Great Lakes,” a folk concert by COMPAS songwriter and performer Charlie Maguire. This free show will take place on Wednesday, May 21, from 6-7 PM.
 
With remarkable authenticity, Charlie performs songs and recounts stories to mark two important maritime anniversaries occurring in 2025: the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the 120th anniversary of the Mataafa wreck off Duluth’s Canal Park on Lake Superior. 
 
Charlie Maguire is the only songwriter ever granted passage to write about two working vessels: the Nordic Trader and the William Clay Ford. Charlie Maguire also served as an embedded crew member on USCG Sundew. From these unique opportunities, Charlie Maguire turned experience into songs with insightful narratives behind each one in time for these important anniversaries. 
 
Additionally, Maguire’s show includes stirring renditions of Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and Woody Guthrie’s “Merchant Marine” to evoke the peril and adventure of ship life.
 
“If you have ever seen a big ship entering a harbor, or glimpsed one out on the horizon and wondered what it must be like to be onboard, then this program is for you,” says Davis Helberg, Director (Ret.) of the Seaway Port Authority of Duluth. “Charlie’s songs and stories make it as real as the wind in your face, the comradeship of the crew, and the movement of the deck under your feet.” After listening to Maguire’s songs, Pete Seeger once remarked, “Your songs are damn good and so are you.”
 
This program is one hour long and is appropriate for all audiences. 
 
This program, sponsored by Arrowhead Library System, was funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (ACHF).

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Moving Words: Writers across Minnesota Author Panel

Three Minnesota Book Award finalists to share insights in conversation at the library
 
The Grand Marais Public Library is thrilled to host a lively multi-genre discussion with three Minnesota authors on May 28, at 6 PM.
 
The panel will offer something enriching for a wide variety of readers and writers. 2023 Minnesota Book Award-winner Staci Drouillard will moderate the discussion among three 2025 finalists: Sarah Ghazal Ali, nominated in Poetry for Theophanies; Cathy Coats, nominated in Minnesota Nonfiction for To Banish Forever: A Secret Society, the Ho-Chunk, and Ethnic Cleansing in Minnesota; and Mubanga Kalimamukwento whose volume of shorts stories, entitled Obligations to the Wounded, won this year’s award for Novel & Short Story.
 
Moving Words is an opportunity for writers and readers to explore various themes together: the impact of literature in their lives, their connection as fellow Minnesotans, and the lens through which we read. Their books are available at Drury Lane or at the library.
 
Sarah Ghazal Ali is a recipient of The Sewanee Review poetry prize and winner of the GLCA New Writers Award. She is the poetry editor for West Branch, and she teaches at Macalester College.
 
Cathy Coats works for the University of Minnesota libraries and interned as an archivist while pursuing her degree. To Banish Forever is adapted from her master’s thesis and is her first book.
 
Mubanga Kalimamukwento is an attorney as well as a writer. Her first novel was listed as a one of the top fifteen debut books of 2019 by Brittle Paper. She is a mentor at the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.
 
The event is free and registration is not required. This discussion is best suited to adults and secondary students.
 
Moving Words is a program of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the Library of Congress-designated Minnesota Center for the Book. This program is made possible in part by the State of Minnesota through an appropriation to the Minnesota Department of Education, The Harlan Boss Foundation, and the generous support of Bernadette and Jeffrey Janisch.

 

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Writer in Residence: Brian Malloy @ the Library

Award-winning novelist to offer twelve creative writing workshops in 2025



The Grand Marais Public Library is proud to present a writing workshop from award-winning novelist Brian Malloy:

June 14: Pride Edition - Writing Your Coming Out Story, @ the Hub, 11 AM

Like the coming-of-age story, the coming out story is about transitioning from who we once were to who we’ve now become. Through examples and writing prompts, we’ll outline our own coming out stories and identify significant events that have shaped our journeys.

Brian will be here all year! The rest of the schedule is as follows:
 
July 9: Funny Stuff
August 20: Writing-in-Progress Read-Aloud from Into the Boundary Waters, 7 PM
September 10: Point of View
October 22: Nature Writing
October 29: Personal Essay
November 12: Novel Structures
November 19: Novel Subplots

Brian Malloy is the author of novels The Year of Ice (St. Martin's Press), Brendan Wolf (St. Martin's Press), After Francesco (Kensington), and the young adult novel Twelve Long Months (Scholastic). His novels have been a New York Times New and Notable title, an Oprah Daily pick, a Women's National Book Association Great Group Reads selection, and a Book Sense Pick. His nonfiction has appeared in Minnesota Monthly, OUT, and the Lambda Award winning anthology, The Man I Might Become: Gay Men Write About Their Fathers (Marlow & Co.). Honors include the Minnesota Book Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award, the Bloomsday Award for Irish American Literature, the Loft Literary Center’s Excellence in Teaching Fellowship, and grants from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, de Groot Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board.
 
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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Executive order to eliminate IMLS

In March, an executive order sought to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the only federal agency dedicated to funding libraries. Minitex, a state level agency, launched a blog for providing transparency and public updates. It's available at https://minitex.umn.edu/imls-information.

Learn about the issue: 

• The Executive Order.
• Summary from I Love Libraries
• Minnesota Library Association's statement.
• FAQs from the American Library Association.
• How federal funding affects Minnesota's libraries.
• How federal funding affects Minitex services like MNLink.

Take action, contact congress:

• 5 Calls -- the "easiest and most effective way for U.S. constituents to make a political impact." On this page, you'll see guidance listed under Save the Institute of Museum & Library Services. It provides a script for making phone calls.
• ALA's resources to contact officials electronically and sign up for news updates.
• More resources, information and ideas are available through the state library association.
• Share your experience with others.

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Your Three words

A public art project

Poet and artist Moheb Soliman is launching a public art project, supported by state grants and local collaborators, that begins in Grand Marais and circles the Great Lakes. The project starts by collecting three words from Cook County residents that capture what makes this place unique. As one of the project's community partners, Grand Marais Public Library is helping raise awareness and collect words from the community.

Moheb explains that the three most frequently mentioned words will form the core of an original poetic line, which will be embedded into a giant driftwood tree. This semi-permanent sculpture will be installed in the Grand Marais area. Made from locally sourced materials, the sculpture will reflect the area's special qualities while connecting the community to the larger Great Lakes region. Moheb's goal is to expand this project to over a dozen Great Lakes locations, creating a 'Poem of Sublime Proportion' that spans the entire region, one line at a time.

SHARE YOUR THREE WORDS WITH MOHEB HERE.

About the artist: Moheb Soliman is an interdisciplinary poet from Egypt and the Midwest. His work has been presented in literary, art, and public spaces across the US and Canada. This spring, you can find Moheb collecting words and sharing info through the library, Care Partners, Grand Portage National Monument, Grand Marais Art Colony, and other local hubs. Stay tuned for more project updates.
 

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Book Bundles Available!
 

Just fill out one of the Google Sheets linked below, and one of our librarians will assemble 4-6 books customized for you.