Coming up at Minneapolis Central Library: Layli Long Soldier reading and in conversation with Heid E. Erdrich about her new book, WE, at an event hosted by Birchbark Books. More information here: birchbarkbooks.com/pages/events

Live report from the Minnesota State Fair, located in the heart of American democracy, where there’s an ICE Out adaptation of Picasso’s Guernica made entirely from crops

On this anniversary of unimaginable loss, we found comfort in planting new life on the boulevard. For their theme this year, Annunciation School chose the verse, “Guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). May we always work toward peace in big ways and small.

Prose as tasty as your favorite fair foods! #mnstatefair

Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl@deardara.bsky.social · 2w ago

this story is many things, including a 2,000 word essay I wrote in an hour and a half. no one appreciates my writerliness, but I do. Boo-ya ka sha. Etc. mspmag.com/eat-and-drin...

Sahan Journal staff are eating their way through the best new ethnic foods at the Great Minnesota Get-Together! Follow along for our reviews of EVERY new diverse dish!

Minnesota State Fair food review: From Hmong corndogs to cheese curd lumpia

Sahan Journal staff ate their way through the best new ethnic foods at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, which starts today.

sahanjournal.com

This lovely piece is about Dolly--and about writing, too: "The song wasn’t about me, wasn’t about my life, about my people. But good writing doesn’t have to imagine everyone. It only has to imagine the truest thing about all of us, that exists in each of us."

Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 2w ago

I wrote about Dolly Parton in my latest @nytopinion.nytimes.com column. Thank you. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/o...

Dolly’s legacy will be felt in a million ways across East Tennessee, the nation and the world. We are honored to have documented part of that legacy in “The Library That Dolly Built.” We hope you watch the film, learn about the Imagination Library and consider supporting the program.

Rivers flow backwards And my tears are dry Swans hate the water And eagles can't fly But I'm alright now Now that I'm over you And the sky is green And the grass is blue And I don't love you -Dolly Parton 1946-2026 She was sheer genius. #everynightapoem www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFH-...

Dolly Parton - The Grass Is Blue - The Grass Is Blue

YouTube video by Music

youtube.com

This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry.

“We really want to get the facts out, of what happened to Alex that day,” Michael Pretti said. “I mean — we’ve seen what happened. The videos are pretty clear. But we want justice. We want accountability ... for the people that did this to Alex.”

Alex Pretti's parents, sister call for accountability, seven months after he was fatally shot by federal agents

“We really want to get the facts out, of what happened to Alex that day,” Michael Pretti said. “I mean — we’ve seen what happened. The videos are pretty clear. But we want justice. We want accountabil...

mprnews.org

"Seven months after 37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot and killed by two federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, his grieving family said they want "accountability" in their first television interview."

Family of Alex Pretti speaks out in exclusive interview: 'They murdered our child'

Alex Pretti, an American citizen and ICU nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot and killed on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.

abcnews.com

More than 50,000 people took part in a climate march in Stockholm today--and 280 different organizations were represented. "UNITED FOR THE CLIMATE"

Lisa Röstlund@lisarostlund.bsky.social · 2w ago

Det tog aldrig slut. Människor som startade vid Vasaparken stod fortfarande och trampade - väntandes på att få komma iväg - när Gustav Adolfs torg redan börjat fyllas av folk som gått hela vägen. Alla åldrar, alla typer, vällde fram på gatorna. omni.se/klimatmarsch...

Poetry by Canadian authors I've enjoyed reading this August: Karen Solie's *Wellwater* and Anne Carson's *Autobiography of Red*l

Kate Armstrong@brainchain.ca · 3w ago

Also - please join me if you will in flooding Bluesky with Canadian culture. Music, art, film, TV. Let’s show the vibrancy of this place I’m proud to call home.

Oh, wow. Maybe you Bluesky folks are all very clever and already know about "Nonesuch Selects"? I just ran across it this morning. What an intriguing pathway to listening to music. www.nonesuch.com/journal/all-...

Nonesuch Records | Journal

The official site of Nonesuch Records

nonesuch.com

🧵

Kate Schapira: "Well Put & Generalizable"@kateschapira.bsky.social · 3w ago

If you've internalized the notion that household-level actions are your only zone of agency, & your goal is to be innocent of harm at that level, you limit your power big-time, *including* by cutting yourself off from connection w/people "doing less" than you. Companies love this one weird trick!

This account is one of my favorites on this site. It is so important to highlight these stories and think about who puts food on our tables.

United Farm Workers@ufw.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Isidro" sent this photo of strawberries he picked in Watsonville, CA. "I am proud of the work I do to put this fruit on the tables across America. Every strawberry I pick demonstrates my hard work and dedication." #WeFeedYou

The all-ages-ness of this puzzle display at Mischief Toy Store is so great.

Mischief Toy Store@mischieftoy.com · 3w ago

So. Many. Puzzles. 🧩

Did a kind of alt-state-fair outing with a granddaughter today, before the onset of the actual Minnesota State Fair commotion. Lunch at Hot Hands Pie & Biscuit, followed by a good wander through the member biennial exhibit at the Textile Center, then ice cream cones at Cold Front. So fun.

A Common Thread 2026, July 30 – October 10, 2026

textilecentermn.org

Really looking forward to eating Minnesota apples this late summer and into the autumn. I love that our earliest variety is called "State Fair." mnhardy.umn.edu/apples/varie...

Arts journalist @sheilaregan.bsky.social does great work for all of us to read, here writing over at @minnpost.com about @coffeehousepress.bsky.social and the Booker Prize 2026 longlist @thebookerprizes.com. I love reading a writer like this, who works and thinks across disciplines.

Big Booker boost for small Minnesota publisher

‘Helen of Nowhere’ is longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, joining ‘The Disappearers’ by Marlon James.

minnpost.com

I'm looking forward to reading this novel by Dorthe Nors, a Danish author translated by Caroline Waight and published by @graywolfpress.bsky.social www.graywolfpress.org/books/range

Arts journalist @sheilaregan.bsky.social does great work for all of us to read, here writing over at @minnpost.com about @coffeehousepress.bsky.social and the Booker Prize 2026 longlist @thebookerprizes.com. I love reading a writer like this, who works and thinks across disciplines.

Big Booker boost for small Minnesota publisher

‘Helen of Nowhere’ is longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, joining ‘The Disappearers’ by Marlon James.

minnpost.com

Meanwhile, the US was the only country in the world to oppose a recent UN declaration about the need to reduce crash deaths. The vote was 162 to 1.

Look Both Ways with David & Wes@lookbothwayspod.bsky.social · 3w ago

In the new episode, @davidzipper.bsky.social noted that the US is so uniquely bad at road safety that the OECD now calculates global crash trends without including US data. That prevents America's struggles from overshadowing other countries' progress.

I rounded up the different books I'm reading right now (from various tabletops and bookbag). Phew! It's a quirky combination. I'm loving all four.

"A landmark trial got underway on Tuesday pitting Meta Platforms against a consortium of states accusing the company of designing its platforms to hook young users and misleading the public about it." I read news from several sources on the opening of this trial. Today I found NPR's the clearest.

'Profits won.' The child safety trial against Meta kicks off in federal court

Opening arguments are underway in a trial that pits four states against the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. They allege that Meta knew its products could hook kids — and lied about the dange...

npr.org

Current* conditions near Two Harbors, MN:

A huge win for the Boundary Waters!! 💙 Gov. Tim Walz just signed an executive order to halt new state permitting and leases for copper-sulfide mining in the Rainy River Watershed. The DNR will also draft a permanent mining ban. Minnesota is fighting back.

"It serves us, and honors [past generations], to recapture whenever possible the old sense of awe at these wonders that have long since become commonplace."

derek guy@dieworkwear.bsky.social · 4w ago

I enjoyed this. ordinaryabundance.com

Interesting essay. For me, it's not that there's a turn or "volta" that helps me take hold of a novel. It's that I learn how to read the book. Often I need to (choose to) read and reread the beginning of a novel. Rereading works better for me than simply continuing with work I'm struggling with.

Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4w ago

“Nobody had ever told us to be on the lookout for the volta. We had just assimilated its existence through years of reading.” New at PB: Emma Adler on why “the volta” makes better readers of us all. www.publicbooks.org/every-novel-...

When we analyze literature, we aren’t particularly concerned with what the author “intended.” Even if we know? We don’t have to agree with them.

Riley Bruce@rileybruce.bsky.social · 4w ago

What’s a thing from your area of expertise (or special interest) that you think it would behoove everyone else to know?