Future Events
Time: TBA
Date: Saturday, Apr. 12, 2025
Place: Art Start's Art Scraps Space, 1459 St Clair Ave – St Paul, MN 55105
Details: TBA
Poets: Greg Watson
Books available for sale.
Time: TBA
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025
Place: TBA
Details: TBA
Poets: Greg Watson
Finns, Finnish Americans, friends, and fans of all things Finnish are welcome! The Finnish American Association - Twin Cities, also known as FAA is a nonprofit organization.
New website coming soon! Meanwhile you can check out finnsource.org.
Time: TBA
Date: Friday, August 1, 2025
Place: Chester Creek Room at The DECC 350 Harbor Drive Duluth, MN 55802
Cost: Free with regular festival entry fee ($10 - $179)
Authors: Greg Watson and Sheila Packa
Heartfelt, poetic meditations that explore family dynamics from an accomplished poet of Finnish heritage.
In Stars Unseen, Greg Watson fearlessly navigates a path through multi-generational trauma and grief, explores his Finnish-American heritage, and the joys and challenges of single parenting in the present age. It is a clear-eyed collection that seeks hope and redemption in the face of adversity, and manages to pin down the smallest moments for closer examination.
Sheila Packa is a poet, writer, and teacher with Minnesota and Finnish roots. She has five books of poetry: Mother Tongue, Echo & Lightning, Cloud Birds, Night Train Red Dust: Poems of the Iron Range, and Surface Displacements. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College and has taught creative writing and composition at Lake Superior College. She leads poetry and writing workshops in community settings and often performs her work in music and media installations with her creative partner Kathy McTavish.
Host Greg at your next Reading Event
Greg Watson’s work has appeared in numerous literary reviews and anthologies, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times. He is the author of twelve collections of poetry.
Contact Greg via email or facebook (link icons directly below)
Past Events
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Date: Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025
Place: Unity Church-Unitarian, 723 Holly Ave St. Paul MN 55104
After: Sweeney’s Saloon has a full bar and kitchen. Please join us at 96 Dale St N, Saint Paul MN
Cost: Free
The readers will include Greg Watson. The host will be Diane Jarvenpa.
Join us for an evening of poetry featuring renowned regional poets.
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Date: Monday, Feb. 3, 2025
Place: Stillwater Public Library, 224 3rd Street North, Stillwater, MN 55082
Program is free, but registration is encouraged. 48 seats in total. Register online by clicking on the program in the library’s event calendar or by calling 651-275-4338.
Phone: (651) 275-4338
Email: splinfo@stillwatermn.gov
Website: https://library.stillwatermn.gov/calendar/
Library Event Posting: https://washcolib.libcal.com/event/13327396
Hosted and curated by poet Joshua Davies in tandem with Cracked Walnut Writing Collective, this event features readings from established poets throughout the region. Doors open at 6pm with readings starting at 6:15pm.
Poets: Joshua Davies, Dralandra Larkins, Freya Manfred, Greg Watson
Books available for sale.
Time: 3:00 PM
Date: Saturday, Nov. 15th, 2024
Place: Cosmic Coffee MN, 3301 Central Ave NE, Mpls MN 55418
Greg will be a guest reader at Christy Merry's book release party for her latest work 'Don't Kiss the Messenger.'
Poets: Christy Merry, Greg Watson
Books available for sale at the event.
MoonStone Gifts Poetry Reading
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024
Place: Moonstone , 908 W Lake St Mpls, MN 55408
Cost: Free
The readers will include Greg Watson, Diane Jarvenpa, and Michael Kiesow Moore.
Poetry Reading
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024
Place: East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, St. Paul, MN 55106
Cost: Free
The readers will include Greg Watson, Julia Klatt Singer, and Michael Kleber-Diggs.
Heartfelt, poetic meditations that explore family dynamics from an accomplished poet of Finnish heritage, Stars Unseen is Greg Watson's fearless navigation of a path through multi-generational trauma and grief, exploring his Finnish American heritage and the joys and challenges of single parenting in the present age. It is a clear-eyed collection that seeks hope and redemption in the face of adversity and manages to pin down the smallest moments for closer examination.
Julia Klatt Singer writes short stories and poems, works as a visiting writer to the school through COMPAS, and is the poet in residence at Grace Neighborhood Nursery School. Her stories and poems have appeared in over four dozen journals and magazines, including the St. Paul Almanac, The Opposite of Cold, and Poetry East. She is co-author of Twelve Branches: Stories from St. Paul
Michael Kleber-Diggs is the author of Worldly Things, which was awarded the 2020 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. He was born and raised in Kansas and now lives in Saint Paul. Michael teaches poetry and creative non-fiction through the Minnesota Prison Writers Workshop.
Time: 11:00 AM - NOON
Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024
Location: Progress Center, Holy Cow! Books table
Place: Minnesota State Fairgrounds 1265 Snelling Ave N Saint Paul MN 55108
Cost: FREE
Please join us at the annual Twin Cities Book Festival, Saturday October 19th, from 10 am to 5 pm. in the Progress Center, Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Saint Paul. We'll have a table of our books for purchase and Greg Watson, "Stars Unseen" (poems) will be on hand: 11 am to noon. Free and open to the public, with plenty of free parking. All our books will be priced at $15 each or 2 for $25.
Stick around afterwards for Greg's 2:45 PM Showcase Stage Reading as well! See below for that event info. [Followed by another signing at the Magers & Quinn Booksellers area]
Time: 2:45 PM
Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024
Location: Showcase Stage
Place: Minnesota State Fairgrounds 1265 Snelling Ave N Saint Paul MN 55108
Cost: FREE
Join us for an action-packed day as dozens of Minnesota authors (and one special guest from another Midwest state!) present their latest books. Grouped by genre, these segments offer a snapshot of the many incredible books that have been released in the past year. Drop in for a taste or hang out for a while — the Showcase Stage runs all day long!
Books signings take place at the Magers & Quinn Booksellers area after each event.
Featured Poets at 2:45 PM:
Sarah Ghazal Ali is the author of Theophanies, selected as the Editors' Choice for the 2022 Alice James Award. A Djanikian Scholar, Stadler Fellow, and winner of the 2022 Sewanee Review Poetry Prize, her poems and essays appear in POETRY, American Poetry Review, The Yale Review, and elsewhere. She is the poetry editor for West Branch and lives in the Bay Area, California. Visit her website here.
Marcie R. Rendon, White Earth Ojibwe, was included on Oprah’s 2020 list of thirty-one Native American authors to read. She has written numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including the Cash Blackbear mystery series, the third volume of which, Sinister Graves, was a 2023 Minnesota Book Award Finalist. Her new book of poetry is Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium. In 2020, she received Minnesota’s McKnight Distinguished Artist Award, and in 2017, Rendon, with poet Diego Vazquez, received the Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship for their work with incarcerated women in the county jail system. Visit her website here.
Greg Watson is the author of Stars Unseen. His work has appeared widely in various journals and anthologies, and has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. He is the author of eleven collections of poetry, including The Sound of Light. He is also co-editor with Richard Broderick of The Road by Heart: Poems of Fatherhood. Visit his website here.
Book Release Reading
Time: 7:00 PM
Date: Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024
Place: Eat My Words Bookstore 214 13th Ave NE Mpls, MN 55413
Cost: Free
In Stars Unseen, Greg Watson fearlessly navigates a path through multi-generational trauma and grief, explores his Finnish-American heritage, and the joys and challenges of single parenting in the present age. It is a clear-eyed collection that seeks hope and redemption in the face of adversity, and manages to pin down the smallest moments for closer examination.
Time: 7:00 PM
Date: Tuesday, September 24th, 2024
Place: 90.3 FM or online at KFAI.org
Greg Watson will talk about his latest works released in 2024 - Stars Unseen and The Days Between
In Stars Unseen, Greg Watson fearlessly navigates a path through multi-generational trauma and grief, explores his Finnish-American heritage, and the joys and challenges of single parenting in the present age. It is a clear-eyed collection that seeks hope and redemption in the face of adversity, and manages to pin down the smallest moments for closer examination.
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Sep. 17, 2024
Place: Subtext Books 6 5th St W Saint Paul, MN 55102
Cost: Free
Join us in store as Greg Watson presents his latest book of poetry, Stars Unseen. Watson will be joined by Michael Kleber-Diggs and William Reichard.
Heartfelt, poetic meditations that explore family dynamics from an accomplished poet of Finnish heritage, Stars Unseen is Greg Watson's fearless navigation of a path through multi-generational trauma and grief, exploring his Finnish American heritage and the joys and challenges of single parenting in the present age. It is a clear-eyed collection that seeks hope and redemption in the face of adversity and manages to pin down the smallest moments for closer examination.
Greg Watson's work has appeared widely in various journals and anthologies and has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. He is also co-editor with Richard Broderick of The Road by Heart: Poems of Fatherhood, published by Nodin Press. He lives in Saint Paul.
Michael Kleber-Diggs is the author of Worldly Things, which was awarded the 2020 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. He was born and raised in Kansas and now lives in Saint Paul. Michael teaches poetry and creative non-fiction through the Minnesota Prison Writers Workshop.
William Reichard is a writer, editor, and educator. In the Evening is his eighth collection of poetry. Previous Broadstone titles are Two Men Rowing Madly Toward Infinity and Our Delicate Barricades Downed. Reichard lives in Saint Paul.
This event starts at 7:00, with poetry from all three poets, some discussion, audience Q&A, and book signing. Can't wait to see you all!
Time: 1:00 PM
Date: Saturday, July 27, 2024
Place: Chester Creek Room at The DECC 350 Harbor Drive Duluth, MN 55802
Cost: Free with regular festival entry fee ($10 - $179)
Greg Watson’s most recent work 'Stars Unseen' will be previewed and available for advance sale exclusively to FinnFest attendees. Official release date in September for the general public.
Heartfelt, poetic meditations that explore family dynamics from an accomplished poet of Finnish heritage.
In Stars Unseen, Greg Watson fearlessly navigates a path through multi-generational trauma and grief, explores his Finnish-American heritage, and the joys and challenges of single parenting in the present age. It is a clear-eyed collection that seeks hope and redemption in the face of adversity, and manages to pin down the smallest moments for closer examination.
Julia Klatt Singer writes short stories and poems, works as a visiting writer to the school through COMPAS, and is the poet in residence at Grace Neighborhood Nursery School. Her stories and poems have appeared in over four dozen journals and magazines, including the St. Paul Almanac, The Opposite of Cold, and Poetry East. She is co-author of Twelve Branches: Stories from St. Paul
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Date: Tuesday, Jan 23rd, 2024
Place: Dayton's Bluff Library 645 E 7th St Saint Paul, MN 55106
Cost: Free
Additional Details: We meet in 'The Zone' at the Metropolitan State University Library and Learning Center Building
Saint Paul poet, Greg Watson, will be here to talk about writing and share about his process. We will have time to ask questions throughout.
Teen Writers’ Guild (TWG) is a group for teens to encourage each other in their writing, edit and critique one another’s work, learn the craft of writing, and grow as writers.
Snacks and tea are provided.
TWG meets once a month on the 4th Tuesday at Dayton’s Bluff
(651) 793-1699 | DBStPaulTeenTuesdays@gmail.com
Located in the Metropolitan State University Library
and Learning Center building.
Meetings are safe spaces.
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Place: SEIU Local 26, 826 18th Ave NE Minneapolis MN 55418
Enter the building on 18th ave NE, near Jackson Street. On-street parking available on 18th Ave NE.
Cost: Free
Greg Watson’s work has appeared in numerous literary reviews and anthologies, and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He is the author of nine collections of poetry.
Diane Jarvenpa has received The Midwest Independent Publishers Association Award and an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a teaching artist with the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project MN. As a singer-songwriter she performs under the name Diane Jarvi.
Whistling Shade Authors Reading
Time: 7:00 PM
Date: Saturday, August 12th, 2023
Place: Eat My Words Bookstore 214 13th Ave NE Mpls, MN 55413
Cost: Free
Time: 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Date: Saturday, July 29, 2023
Place: The DECC Horizon Room #205, 350 Harbor Drive Duluth, MN 55802
Cost: Free with regular festival entry fee ($20 - $179)
Greg Watson’s work has appeared in numerous literary reviews and anthologies, and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He is the author of nine collections of poetry.
Diane Jarvenpa has received The Midwest Independent Publishers Association Award and an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a teaching artist with the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project MN. As a singer-songwriter she performs under the name Diane Jarvi.
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Date: Thursday, Jul. 13, 2023
Place: Unity Church-Unitarian, 723 Holly Ave St. Paul MN 55104
After: Sweeney’s Saloon has a full bar and kitchen. Please join us at 96 Dale St N, Saint Paul MN
Cost: Free
The readers will be Clare Wahmanholm, Tracy Youngblom, Greg Watson and Carol Rucks. The host will be Diane Jarvenpa.
Greg Watson's work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including the Saint Paul Almanac, and This Was 2020: Minnesotans Write About Pandemics and Social Justice in a Historic Year. He is the author of nine collections of poetry, most recently The Sound of Light. He is also co-editor with Richard Broderick of The Road by Heart: Poems of Fatherhood, published by Nodin Press.
Tracy Youngblom has published two chapbooks of poems, as well as two full-length collections of poems, including the recent Boy from CavanKerry Press. She has been the recipient of two Pushcart nominations and has published poems and essays widely. She teaches English at Anoka-Ramsey Community College.
Claire Wahmanholm is the author of Meltwater (2023), Redmouth (2019), and Wilder (2018). Her work has most recently appeared in, or is forthcoming from Cream City Review, TriQuarterly, Sierra, Ninth Letter, Blackbird, Washington Square Review, Copper Nickel, and Beloit Poetry Journal. She was a 2020-2021 McKnight Writing Fellow, and is the winner of the 2022 Montreal International Poetry Prize.
Carol Rucks graduated from the University of Wisconsin system, where she studied Literature and Creative Writing with David Steingass and Dave Engel. She has worked mainly in libraries, especially at the Art/Music/Literature reference desk at the Minneapolis Central Library. Her poems have been published in Abraxas, West Branch, Colere, Earth's Daughters, Poetry Quarterly, and elsewhere. She is the author of the poetry collection Evidence of Rain, published by Nodin Press, and a new second collection, Wavelength, just out from Kelsay Books.
Time: 7:30-10:30 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Place: University Club of St. Paul, 420 Summit Ave St. Paul MN 55102
Cost: Free
Greg Watson’s work has appeared in numerous literary reviews and anthologies, and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He is the author of nine collections of poetry.
Diane Jarvenpa has received The Midwest Independent Publishers Association Award and an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a teaching artist with the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project MN. As a singer-songwriter she performs under the name Diane Jarvi.
Sharon Chmielarz taught German for thirty years in Minnesota and has had three children’s picture books and fourteen books of poetry. The Widow’s House and The J Horoscope received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews. She’s the South Dakota 2021 Poet of Merit.
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Date: Thursday, Apr. 27, 2023
Place: Merriam Park St. Paul Library, 1831 Marshall Ave St. Paul MN 55104
Cost: Free
Time: 3-5 p.m.
Date: Saturday, Apr. 22, 2023
Place: The Beanery Cafe + Roastery, 223 Minnesota Avenue North Aitkin, MN 56431
Cost: $5 per person - purchase at The Beanery or call (218) 927-7811
Reading, Q & A, open poetry reading, book signing, appetizers, social time, beverages.
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Date: Friday, Mar. 24, 2023
Place: Healing Roots Wellness Center, 154 Summit St River Falls WI 54022
Cost: Free
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022
Place: Subtext Books 6 5th St W Saint Paul, MN 55102
Cost: Free
Time: 7-8 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, Sep. 25, 2019
Place: Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 Snelling Ave S St. Paul MN 55105
Cost: Free
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.
Date: Monday, Aug. 26, 2019
Place: The Irreverent Bookworm, 5163 Bloomington Ave Minneapolis, MN 55417
Cost: Free
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Jun. 18, 2019
Place: The University Club 420 Summit Ave St Paul MN 55102
Cost: Free
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018
Place: Subtext Books 6 5th St W Saint Paul, MN 55102
Cost: Free
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
Date: Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017
Place: Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 Snelling Ave S St. Paul, MN 55105
Cost: Free
Time: 2-4 p.m.
Date: Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017
Place: Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 Snelling Ave S St. Paul, MN 55105
Cost: Free
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.
Date: Apr. 20, 2016
Place: Birchbark Books, 2115 W 21st St Mpls., MN 55405
Cost: Free
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015
Place: Subtext Books 6 5th St W Saint Paul, MN 55102
Cost: Free
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Saturday, Jun. 27, 2015
Place: Barnes & Noble Har Mar, 2100 Snelling Ave N Roseville MN 55113
Cost: Free
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Jun. 9, 2015
Place: The Loft Literary Center 1011 Washington Ave S MPLS MN 55415
Cost: Free
Time: 7-9 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Place: Birchbark Books, 2115 W 21st St Mpls., MN 55405
Cost: Free
Time: 7-8 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2012
Place: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1917 Logan Ave. S., Mpls., MN 55403
Cost: Free
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Monday, Sep. 13, 2010
Place: Barnes & Noble Har Mar, 2100 Snelling Ave N Roseville MN 55113
Cost: Free
Time: 7 p.m.
Date: Apr. 6, 2010
Place: Barnes & Noble Har Mar, 2100 Snelling Ave N Roseville MN 55113
Cost: Free
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009
Place: Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave, Mpls., MN 55408
Cost: Free
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Date: Sunday, Jun. 7, 2009
Place: Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave, Mpls., MN 55408
Cost: Free