2011 Saint Paul Almanac

"A diverse mix of tributes, commentary, and comedy from students, longtime residents, new immigrants, journalists, and nostalgic ex-St. Paul residents."

City Pages

"The Saint Paul Almanac is filled with stories and poems from both the general citizenry of St. Paul and its literary royalty."

METRO

"Every city should have such respect and fondness for itself."

Dallas News

Now in its fifth year, the Saint Paul Almanac again offers its eclectic and quirky mix of essays, history, reviews, photography and poetry about all things Saint Paul, written by the people who know and love the city best.

The Almanac is a year-round calendar and guide designed to take the curious urban adventurer through a year of seasons in Minnesota's capital city, with essays that capture different aspects of daily life in Saint Paul.

This year s Saint Paul Almanac editors received nearly 450 submissions from seasoned authors, published poets, photographers, illustrators, journalists, lawyers, retirees, teachers, students, new immigrants, and other established and aspiring writers. The multicultural and multigenerational team of community editors led by managing editor, Kimberly Nightingale carefully reviewed them all and, in a deliberative and democratic process, winnowed down for inclusion those 450 submissions to 129 stories and poems by 116 contributors.

Nationally celebrated artist Michael Birawer s fanciful painting, Downtown Saint Paul, wraps around the cover of the 2011 Saint Paul Almanac. Birawer s urban cityscapes reflect his interest in architecture and the energy of urban communities: Old buildings, ornate details, decorative facades, and the bustling of people and traffic are what make the most interesting subjects to me and that is why I love to paint them, said the artist. The Saint Paul native has exhibited extensively and been featured on several local television programs and YouTube videos, including one that shows the cover image in time-lapse as it was being created. Birawer feels a strong connection to the city of his birth, adding, "Saint Paul is a city I never feel lost in; it is always welcoming."

The 2011 Almanac also features almost two-dozen photos by award-winning photographer, Wing Young Huie, who has received international acclaim for his many projects that document the changing cultural landscape of Minnesota. His most recent and largest-scale work is The University Avenue Project, revealing the everyday realties of the diverse neighborhoods connected by this changing urban thoroughfare. From May through October of 2010, the project, produced by Public Art Saint Paul, is transforming Saint Paul s University Avenue into a six-mile-long, multimedia, public gallery. Embedded in this tapestry of words, music and images are a host of issues such as ethnicity, gender, and social disconnection. The photos ask such questions as, Who are you? What advice would you give a stranger? How do you think others see you? What don t others see? How has race affected you? You can see more about The University Avenue Project on Twin City Public Television's Minnesota Original online archive.

Once aptly described as a literary campfire around which the diverse Saint Paul community gathers to share its stories, the Saint Paul Almanac, published by Arcata Press, provides entertainment, photography, maps and listings of events, bars and restaurants, theaters, museums, libraries and other cultural venues within a datebook format. By combining the calendar aspects of an almanac with literary stories, the Almanac encourages readers to use their books and read the stories throughout the year, bringing good writing and art into the city.