Fun facts, datebook, events, stories, poetry, recipes, and more that combined ring a true bell note of Saint Paul life.

2008 Saint Paul Almanac

Kimberly Nightingale

Editor)

Reference

Arcata Press

Ah, they say, community is dead, the book is dead, story lies dying. 
 Not here in Saint Paul. Now in its third year, the Saint Paul Almanac is a unique publication. Its purposes are to preserve individual and community stories, welcome newcomers into Saint Paul s yeasty mixture of communities through writing, and produce what amounts to a collective, communal memory for Saint Paul. 
 The Saint Paul Almanac offers browsers as well as sit-down-and-read-the-whole-thing-straight-throughers a range of poems, short stories, immigration tales, mild political screeds, essays, memoirs, and calendars of events that hasn t seen its parallel since the subscription omnigatherums of the late nineteenth century: something for everyone, with lessons on community organization and community memory thrown in. 
 The 368-page annual Almanac solicits and revels in the work of poets; poems are all over the book each year. So are Saint Paul s most prominent writers, Garrison Keillor his limericks grace several month s first pages and Patricia Hampl. So too are baseball fanatics, who contribute essays about the game in Saint Paul; hot rodders; quirky Rangers (the Minnesota term for sturdy northerners from the Mesabi Iron Range); newcomers from Cambodia, Somalia, Mexico, Ethiopia, and the Twin Cities equally exotic distant suburbs. The Almanac regularly celebrates food and coffee in poem and essay (lots of coffee, lots of coffee houses), Saint Paul s Winter Carnival, the discreet charms of winter (this year these include a paen to snowblowing), and moral advice from an excellent Saint Paul mechanic. 
 The bright particulars of each writer s contribution constitute a textbook case of how to charm and win the trust of readers through attentiveness to one s own tale. Most of the Almanac s selections are excursions into neighborhood, family, or personal history whose pleasurableness lies in their modesty and detail. You can almost hear a child nudging each writer forward: And then what happened? And the contributor tells you. Great reading, then, for the bedside table, the deck, the outdoor coffee house. 
 The result, as Minnesotans might put it, is not so bad a plucky annual celebrating difference, similarity, wholeness, and weirdness.

2009 Saint Paul Almanac

Just a few stories captured in the 2010 Saint Paul Almanac include August Wilson's early days in Saint Paul, a tour guide's experiences introducing visitors from all parts of the world to Minnesota's State Capitol building, Casey the gorilla's escape from his quarters at Como Zoo, protests at the Republican National Convention, immigrants' first experiences in Minnesota, Mickey's Diner, the ski school at Como Park, and growing up on Saint Paul's East Side. The Saint Paul Almanac's calendar captures important dates for local happenings such as the Winter Carnival, Art Crawl, Farmers' Market, community festivals and concerts. Listings of Saint Paul restaurants, coffee shops, theaters, museums, art galleries, historical sites and other cultural venues ensure Saint Paul visitors and residents never run out of entertainment options.

2010 Saint Paul Almanac

Editor: Kimberly Nightingale

"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.

2011 Saint Paul Almanac

The 2012 Saint Paul Almanac is the well-seasoned sixth edition of the indispensable guide book to Minnesota s capital city and Saint Paul's unique and eclectic community storytelling hub of record!This year, the 416-page, 180+ photo 2012 Saint Paul Almanac is available in full color for the first time and another first includes gorgeous, hand-drawn, poster-size, pull-out maps of the City of Saint Paul and Downtown!Our Saint Paul Calendar includes a handy datebook where you can write your appointments and notes and lists Saint Paul's festivals, parades, exhibitions, and events. The Saint Paul Almanac is a literary campfire around which the diverse Saint Paul community gathers to share their stories. An experiment in democratic publishing, the 2012 Almanacbrought together a multigenerational team of 18 volunteer community editors to blind select from 400 submissions the 129 stories, poems, and recipes chosen to appear in this new edition. Every story has a unique, individual voice which, when combined with other stories in the Saint Paul Almanac, becomes a chorus encompassing all the energy of Saint Paul today. High school students work appears alongside writing by grandparents, and first-time writers appear next to Saint Paul literary greats such as Garrison Keillor and Max Shulman.The 2012 Almanac includes stories about telepathic monkeys at the Como golf course, visiting the Pig s Eye Island city dump, how the Skyline Towers got the name Titanic Tower, and wildlife on the West Side.Also included are personal portraits of Saint Paul people by Media Mike Hazard; classic Saint Paul stories selected by Patrick Coleman, Steve Trimble, and Anura Si-Asar; and a reflection by Joe Nathan on how Saint Paulite Bill Wilson has influenced the city.

2012 Saint Paul Almanac

Multiple-Authors

The 2013 Saint Paul Almanac is the friendly guidebook to Minnesota's capital city and Saint Paul's eclectic community storytelling book of record!
 This year, the 416-page 2013 Saint Paul Almanac is again available in full color with over 160 photos and illustrations. 
 Our gorgeous, hand-drawn, poster-size, pull-out maps of the city of Saint Paul and downtown have been newly revised, and this latest edition now includes a pull-out poster of Ta-coumba Aiken's beautiful illustrations from the Almanac s Lowertown Reading Jam events. 
 Stories are at the heart of what we do. The Saint Paul Almanac is a literary campfire around which the diverse Saint Paul community gathers to share their stories.

2013 Saint Paul Almanac

The award-winning Saint Paul Almanac, first published in 2007, is a community-curated collection of stories, photographs, and poems from all corners of the city. The Almanac is overflowing with the words of people who know and love Saint Paul, Minnesota's state capital. A guidebook, too, the Saint Paul Almanac encourages curious urban adventurers to find Saint Paul places to explore an indispensable reference to museums, galleries, restaurants, venues, landmarks, and other interesting nooks and crannies of the city. The Saint Paul Almanac in the Press: Winner in the 2012 Travel and 2013 Culture categories of the Midwest Book Awards. Just about the most comprehensive book about Saint Paul you ll ever need... It s a collection of writing. It s a datebook. It s a guide to entertainment and events. Our favorite home-grown hybrid is back.... This is a book to be cherished by everyone who loves St. Paul. Saint Paul Pioneer Press A practical, informative, and at times personal reference of all things St. Paul... A diverse mix of tributes, commentary, and comedy from students, longtime residents, new immigrants, journalists, and nostalgic ex-Saint Paul residents. Minneapolis City Pages A compendium of local event calendars, resources and tips, combined with personal stories, history and secrets. All that, and plenty of room to scribble your own plans, insights and lists. Minneapolis Star Tribune Every city should have such respect and fondness for itself. Dallas Morning News ...a datebook with a difference... a welter of stories from all of the ethnic groups and ages that make up the capital city... [this] fusion of multiethnic, history-and- culture-rich, hyperlocal storytelling.... There are Saint-Paul-themed poems by established and unknown poets, essays by up-and- coming novelists, reminiscences by old-timers. As the days pass, the reader/user of the Almanac gets a richer and richer image of Saint Paul as a hub of human experience, a place where, for nearly two centuries, people from far-flung places have come together to share space and history. !The Line (Twin Cities) Important dates and even cheese-curd haikus. Pig s Eye never seemed crazier. Minnesota Monthly

2014 Sain Paul Almanac

Carol Connolly

Etc.

Margot Fortunato Galt

garrison-keillor

multiple--Joyce Sutphen

Yusef Mgeni

J. Otis Powell

Heid Erdrich

IBé Kaba

Emmanuel Ortiz

Louis Alemayehu

The Way We See It A Fresh Look at Vision Loss

Filled with artwork, poems, history, essays, and more, Saint Paul Almanac: Resistance and Resilience will be available September 20, 2019. Featuring work by Corva León, Kao Kalia Yang, Pamela Fletcher,Thet-Htar Thet , Patricia Kirkpatrick, Tom LaBlanc, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Greg Watson, Irna Landrum, Ethna McKiernan, and many more."There are stories of grief, anger and injustice as well as stories of love, affirmation, and celebration. There are stories of resistance that inspire us to hope for a more just world. We also noticed a thread of profound resilience: the courage to take a risk, the ability to adapt, the determination to follow one's dreams, and the spirit of working together. We hope that these stories, poems and artwork will be treasured as representative of the beauty of Saint Paul as well as where change, inclusion, and healing are still needed. -Wendy Brown-Baéz

Saint Paul Almanac Volume 12: Resistance and Resilience

This collection of voices weaves humor, love, the gut-punch of loss, the ordinary and extraordinary with mamas and daddies, buses and ESL classes, scooters and rescue dogs, and the vagaries of Minnesota weather. It is provocative and compassionate in its portrayals of inter-generational experiences of adversity and success, written, as the quote in the book from David Mura suggests, "from strength not weakness." In these uncertain and stressful times, these writers lead us across the diverse landscapes and cultures of St. Paul with their lyrical words and stunning imagery to help us find we what need most-a path to each other made by walking together with empathy and understanding.?Gwen Westerman, author of Follow the Blackbirds and 2021 Minnesota State Poet Laureate

Saint Paul Almanac Volume 13: A Path to Each Other

Literature & Fiction

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United States

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