All Strive Bookstore events are free and open to the public.
Located in the historic Young Quinlan Building 901 Nicollet Mall
BOOK LAUNCH OF "CRITICAL FAITH"
Schwartz-Chaney is also a former STEM research coordinator for the Black Male Initiative at New York City College of Technology. She teaches writing at New York State’s Queensboro Correctional Facility, a minimum-security prison in New York City.
A critical researcher, critical race theorist, and social activist scholar, she co-edited Race, Education, and Reintegrating Formerly Incarcerated Citizens: Counterstories & Counterspaces, published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2015. She is the co-author of Gifts from the Dark: Learning from the Incarceration Experience, published in 2021, and also co-authored Learning to Disclose: A Journey of Transracial Adoption published by Peter Lang in 2020.
In Spring 2024, Joni Schwartz-Chaney and her husband, John R. Chaney, will begin work on a new program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice called the “Second Chance Act Improving Reentry Education and Employment Outcomes.” The $900,000 grant over three years (beginning in Oct. 2023) will fund the development of college credit bearing classes in prison for mainly men of color returning home.
Joni Schwartz-Chaney lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, John R. Chaney, a City University of New York associate professor, whose background includes practicing law and criminal justice administration.
BOOK SIGNING WITH AUTHOR APRIL GIBSON
ABOUT THE BOOK:
With echoes of Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals and Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor, an extraordinary debut collection from a prize-winning poet that chronicles a Black woman’s journey through disability, the byzantine healthcare system, life-giving, taking, and sacrifice.
With breathtaking lyricism and a vulnerability that pierces the heart, April Gibson journeys through the emotional abysses, the daily pleasures, the frustrations, and the joys of being a Black woman living with chronic illness.
Gibson offers a unique perspective on “the body,” viewing disability and healthcare through both feminist and socio-economic lenses filtered by race and faith. Through gorgeous sensory language that migrates memories, from carefree innocence to the ravages formed in its absence, Gibson bears witness to grief, courage, and resistance to redefine herself on her own terms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A former resident of MInneapolis, April Gibson is a poet, writer, and professor whose work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Rhino Poetry, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. April has won The Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award. She has been awarded residencies from Write On, Door County and the Vermont Studio Center. She is a fellow of the Poetry Incubator (Poetry Foundation), the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, and The Watering Hole Poetry Retreat. April is also a Tin House and VONA Writing Workshop alum, and her research has received support from the National Endowment of the Humanities. She teaches in the Department of English, Literature, and Speech at Malcolm X College in Chicago.
Rain Taxi Twin Cities Independent Bookstore Passport 2024
We are participating in this exciting annual event! You can pick up a free passport at Strive Bookstore during regular store hours - Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00am to 6:00pm (We will open the store on Sunday, April 28, 11:00am - 6:00pm) for the last day of passports). Visit as many independent bookstores as you can between April 24 and April 28 and get your passport stamped.
For more information and to find out how to enter for prizes, click link below to go to the Rain Taxi website.
Unleash Your Imagination: Crafting Graphic Novels for Young Adults
Join us for an interactive workshop where you'll learn the art of crafting captivating graphic novels tailored for young adult audiences. From character development to visual storytelling techniques, we'll explore the essential elements that bring graphic novels to life. Dive into the creative process, discover tips for effective narrative pacing, and unleash your imagination as we delve into the world of graphic storytelling. Whether you're an aspiring illustrator or a seasoned writer, this workshop offers valuable insights to help you create compelling narratives that resonate with young readers.
Dr. Artika Tyner
As a motivational speaker, author and educator, Dr. Tyner helps people of all ages connect with their gifts and develop tangible tools for bringing forth sustainable, durable change in the family, workplace, community or school.
THIRD THURSDAYS OPEN MIC
Help us welcome G. Gazelka
Sharing from their newly published book of poetry, Tender One.
G. Gazelka has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and is English faculty at North Hennepin Community College and Inver Hills Community College in Minnesota. Tender One is their debut chapbook. In 2022 and 2023, their poems and full-length manuscript Bodies in Transition received honorable mentions from the League of Minnesota Poets in the Trans and NonBinary Award, Keith Gann LGBT Award, and John Rezmerski Memorial Manuscript Competition. Their poems have recently appeared in Avalon Anthology and Rockvale Review.
While many of these poems no longer appear online, the poems in Tender One were originally written on a vintage Smith-Corona typewriter and posted to Instagram in 2015-2016. A few of these poems were given as gifts or staged as art pieces in and around coffee shops (sometimes with permission). They deal with themes of love, spirituality, and awakening.
G. Gazelka, if anything, is a writer and makes no claims to be an expert on religion. Their poetry is influenced by late modernist poet Elizabeth Bishop and beatnik writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Their online tradition acknowledges contemporary poets Tyler Knott Gregson, Christopher Poindexter, JETO and the Streetniks, T.J. McGowan, Romlynn Ramos, and Isra Al-Thibeh.
Book Workshop with Author Heather Plett
Heather Plett Author of Where Tenderness Lives Presents Workshop
In support of the launch of her book, Where Tenderness Lives: On healing, liberation, and holding space for oneself, Heather Plett will offer a free workshop in which she will teach participants to develop their own tenderness practice. This practice will resonate with anyone who does trauma healing work, who is working on developing a more loving relationship with their own body, and/or who struggles with self-criticism or self-sabotage. Participants will leave with practical tools for an embodied, self-reflective, self-honouring practice that they can use every day.
Learn more about author at her website: https://heatherplett.com/media/
The Music Photography of Brian D. Garrity
Meet Photographer/Author Brian D. Garrity
Come out, get your book signed by Brian, and enjoy a playlist of music by the biggest artists of the ‘80s and ‘90s, photographed in Minneapolis’ most well-known venues.
Local Author, Tony Wentersdorf, Book Signing & Reading
Born in the Year Zero
A captivating memoir by the author, chronicling their life journey from post-war Germany to the United States and beyond. Published in 2020, the book delves into the author's experiences growing up in Germany, their immigration to the U.S. at a young age, educational pursuits in Ohio, and international adventures in Europe. Set in Minnesota since 1974, the memoir is enriched with personal photographs, spanning 139 pages and available for $14.95 at Strive Bookstore.
JOIN US AT STRIVE BOOKSTORE, 901 NICOLLET MALL, AND MEET LOCAL AUTHOR, TONY WENTERSDORF.
The author is an accomplished writer and poet, having received a university poetry prize for a sonnet titled "Metamorphosis" and published works in various Twin Cities literary magazines such as Writers' Cramp, Growing Voices, and Mined. In addition to Born in the Year Zero, the author has self-published three other memoirs, one focusing on their time in a residential treatment center for the mentally ill. Active in supporting disabled artists through Very Special Arts Minnesota for 20 years, they have also been involved with NAMI as a speaker in their In Our Own Voice program since 2014 due to their struggles with major depression and anxiety since college. Looking ahead, the author aims to continue their creative pursuits in music, teaching, writing, and advocacy work for the mentally ill.
MBAE Open Mic
This event is sponsored by the Minnesota Black Authors Expo and we are excited to host these amazing authors at Strive Bookstore - join us!
Author Book Talk
Come join T.C. Moore and friends for the launch of his debut book, Forged. Forged weaves together stories from the author's over twenty years of experience with urban, multiethnic ministry all over the US, principles from Scripture, and his own experience as an ex-gang member turned church planter and pastor to propose a way of approaching faith in community that rejects hierarchical, bureaucratic structures in favor of formative, inclusive friendships that last.
Rewriting the Rules
Meet author, Miles Asberry Wallace and be among the first to get your hand on his new comic book! Miles will share his author experience and sign copies of his comic book.
Author Book Talk
Join the DMNA 2023 Bookclub on Facebook. Get your discounted book at Strive Bookstore, 901 Nicollet Mall, downtown Minneapolis, Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00am - 6:00pm.
Third Thursdays Open Mic
Michael Wade is an author, publisher, poet, and spoken word artist.
Voices of Our Times Featuring Carolyn Holbrook and Friends
Please join us for a Sunday afternoon reading with Carolyn Holbrook and friends, An Garagiola, Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, and Melissa Olson.
Donuts with Dad Party
Join us at Strive Bookstore, 901 Nicollet Mall, for a fun-filled day of donuts, art, dancing, and reading for the whole family! This free community event is a great opportunity for fathers and daughters of all ages and abilities to bond and create memories that will last a lifetime.
Author Reading with Charles Adams (Coach OA)
Local author and beloved North High Polars football coach, Charles Adams (Coach OA) will discuss his newly released book, “Twin Cities: My Life as a Black Cop and a Championship Coach” at Strive Bookstore.
Third Thursdays Spooky Movie Night
We can’t wait to see you for our 2nd Third Thursdays event at the bookstore!
Movie night featuring “Get Out” from Director Jordan Peele
Also we will have copies of “Out There Screaming” an anthology of new horror stories by all Black authors, edited by Jordan Peele.
See you soon!
Author Rose McGee, Can't Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama!
Book reading and signing with author, Rose McGee, Can’t Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama!
Curtis Chin Book Reading
Author Curtis Chin will read from his forthcoming book, Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese Restaurant.
Book Talk with Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison
Join us for a reading by Minnesota Attorney General of the book “Break the Wheel.”
Third Thursdays Kick-off (Fall Theme)
Join us for Pumpkin Spice Treats and to learn more about our upcoming Christmas book drive!
Writers of African Heritage Series: Writers Raised by Multi-Ethnic Parents
About this event
Writers of African Heritage Series
Presented by The Minnesota Black Publishing Arts Collaborative
Writers Raised by Multi-Ethnic Parents
Saturday, December 4, 2021 • 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
The Life of a Black Author
Author, Crown Shepherd will share strategies for successfully marketing your book, from her experiences in the book publishing industry.
Did you know that only 5% of published authors are Black? The book publishing industry is historically white-centered and to this day less than 5% of book publishers are Black. Where does that leave you as a Black author?
Join Crown the Writer as she explains what it takes to market your book and promote yourself in a market that does not see how much Black authors matter.
This information session is sponsored by Strive Community Publishing, where we work to inspire community collaboration in publishing stories to heal, teach, learn, and earn while building an ecosystem that embodies a rich Black culture and heritage.
BONUS! All attendees will be entered in a drawing for a free "Black Authors Matter" T-shirt (pictured) from Cush City, the home of Black Authors Matter TV.
Amplifying Black Narratives: The Creation of Black Narratives
Join writers Sheletta Brundidge, Larry McKenzie, and Sagirah Shahid in a discussion with moderator Dara Beevas in the third installment of the Friends Forum’s Amplifying Black Narratives series.
In this conversation, the authors and Beevas will discuss how age and individual experience influence their work, reflect on how authors find their narrative and encourage the community to find their voice — while reinforcing the message that when we uplift Black voices, we all benefit.
Kevin Jenkins' Book Launch
Come out and celebrate the release of Kevin Jenkins’ inspirational book, Victory Over Kidney Disease. Family, friends, and the community are invited to share in this grand celebration!
