Twelve Branches

Four writers gather stories from the people of St. Paul and weave them into this beautiful collection.

What happens when a city gets together, not to read a book, but to write one? Twelve Branches: Stories from St. Paul began as an innovative, artistic project meant to bring together city residents from all ages and backgrounds to collaborate on writing a book—one that would ultimately result in this beautifully realized collection and serve as a lasting document for the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. To achieve this lofty goal, four accomplished writers gathered memories and histories from the community at twelve St. Paul branch libraries. Each of the twelve fictional chapters, grown from the stories told at the libraries and combined with historical research, is as diverse in style and content as the communities from which they sprang—from war to friendship and fire to fertility, these stories are tied together by the city itself.

Publication date: April 1, 2003

Format: Trade Paper

Dimensions: 6 x 9

Page count: 200 pages

ISBN: 9781566891400

Nora Murphy is the author of two books for young readers, A Hmong Family (Lerner) and African Americans in Minnesota: Telling our Own Stories (Minnesota Historical Society Press), co-authored with Mary Murphy-Gnatz. Her article have appeared in Minnesota History, A View From the Loft, and The Circle. Murphy has also written and edited works for many community organizations including the Minneapolis American Indian Center, the Hmong American Partnership and the Chinese American Civic Association. She has an MFA in Writing from Hamline University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago.

Joanna Rawson is a poet, journalist and creative writer. She has taught writing at the high school and college levels, and has worked with many diverse groups of writers, including prison inmates, American Indian Teens, and senior citizens. As long-time staff writer and editor for City Pages, Rawson is also a member of the Rain Taxi Review of Books board of directors. She is the author of a collection of poems, Quarry, and has also published more than 200 articles and reviews in Salon, Utne Reader, Mother Jones, and other publications. Rawson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa Writers workshop. She has received a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, and awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Short-story write Julia Klatt Singer is a rostered artist for COMPAS and the Minnesota State Arts Board, working as a writer-in-residence in schools across the state. She has published over thirty-six short stories and poems in various publications, including Slant, Buffalo Bones, and Woman's Words, and edits the online journal writeworks, which features the writing of her students. Her writing has won awards from The Loft and Rambunctious Review. Singer has an MA degree from Hamline University and an undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College.

Diego Vázquez, Jr. is a poet and novelist. He is a writer in residence through the COMPAS Writers and Artists in the Schools program. He is the founder and former Slammaster of Slam MN! (Minnesota Poetry Slam). Vázquez is the author of a novel, Growing Through the Ugly (W.W. Norton), and the editor of two COMPAS anthologies, Rooftop Jailbirds and River Pigs.