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News and Events

We Will Be Closed on Labor Day

Normal hours resume on Tuesday. Come visit us!

Birchbark Books Reading Series

Wednesday, September 8th @ 7pm
Birchbark Books and Kenwood Cafe
Full deli menu available prior to the reading
The Birchbark Books Reading Series begins its second season! Jim Lenfestey will be celebrating the release of his new book Low Down and Coming On: A Feast of Delicious and Dangerous Poems about Pigs. Jim will serve as guest curator with readings from the book. Readers will also include poets Jill Breckendridge, Margaret Hasse, and Thomas R. Smith. Hosted by Michael Kiesow Moore. This ongoing series features new, emerging, and established writers presenting their work at Birchbark Books and the Kenwood Cafe on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, from September through May. View the series flyer for more details!

Master Butchers at the Guthrie

September 11 through November 6
Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis

The Master Butchers Singing ClubThe world premiere of The Master Butchers Singing Club at the Guthrie Theater! Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman. Based upon the novel by Louise Erdrich. Directed by Francesca Zambello. Francesca and Louise talk about the production in a video posted on the Birchbark Blog. Further information and tickets available from the Guthrie website. We couldn't be more excited! Get your tickets soon...

Three poets. One great night.

Wednesday, September 15 @ 7pm
Birchbark Books and Kenwood Cafe

A night of poetry at Birchbark Books! James Cihlar will be reading from Metaphysical Bailout, his new chapbook from Pudding House Press. Heid Erdrich will be reading from the newly re-issued Fishing for Myth, her first published collection of poems. William Reichard will be reading from his latest, Sin Eater. Enjoy a beverage, sandwich, or dessert at the Kenwood Cafe while listening to some great poetry!

The Dance Boots

Friday, September 17th @ 7pm
Birchbark Books and Kenwood Cafe

We welcome Linda LeGarde Grover to celebrate the release of her new book The Dance Boots. This collection of eight beautifully crafted stories portrays an Ojibwe community struggling to follow traditional ways of life in the face of a relentlessly changing world. Winner of the Flannery O'Conner Award for Short Fiction. Join us for this special event!

North Country: The Making of Minnesota

Thursday, September 23 @ 7pm
Birchbark Books and Kenwood Cafe

A cornerstone text in the chronicle of Minnesota’s history, North Country: The Making of Minnesota is the unflinching account of how the land the Dakota named Mini Sota Makoce became the State of Minnesota and of the people who have called it home.  Author Mary Lethert Wingerd will be here to read from this beautiful and fascinating book. A Birchbark favorite, available now in our Online Shop.

The Assassination of Hole in the Day

Tuesday, October 5th @ 7pm
Birchbark Books and Kenwood Cafe
Anton Treuer, author of the wonderfully informative Ojibwe in Minnesota, will be reading from his new book The Assassination of Hole in the Day. Ned Blackhawk calls this work “an essential study of nineteenth-century Ojibwe leadership and an important contribution to the field of American Indian Studies by an author of extraordinary knowledge and talent. Treuer’s work is infused with a powerful command over Ojibwe culture and linguistics.” Come meet Anton Treuer!

The Thank-you Bar

November 18-20 @ 7pm and 9pm
Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis

The Thank-you Bar - Emily JohnsonWhen she isn't busy at the bookstore, Emily Johnson spends her time making dances with her company Catalyst. Emily's latest work, The Thank-you Bar, interweaves music, film, stories, and dance to ask "What is a true home?". The interactive night begins with a contemporary art exhibit (This is Displacement) in Northrop's studios then moves to an up-close-and-personal seating on Northrop's stage for an intimate, multimedia dance work, with live music by James Everest and Joel Pickard of BLACKFISH. More information and tickets available from the Northrop website

In the Courts of the Conqueror

Friday, November 19th @ 7pm
Birchbark Books and Kenwood Cafe
We welcome Walter Echo-Hawk to read from his book In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Cases Ever Decided. This in-depth examination reveals how American law has rendered legal the destruction of Native Americans and their culture. As a staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund for thirty-five years, Walter Echo-Hawk represented tribes and Native Americans on significant legal issues during the modern era of federal Indian law. 

Dragonfly Dance

Thursday, December 2nd @ 7pm
Birchbark Books and Kenwood Cafe

Denise K. Lajimodiere will be reading from Dragonfly Dance, her new collection of poems remarkable for their candor and sense of catharsis. Denise is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in Belcourt, North Dakota. Her poems have appeared in Yellow Medicine Review, North Country, and Sporting Words. Join us for a night of poetry!