Upcoming Events
This page displays only certain public events booked as rentals at Open Book.
For events sponsored by our founding partners, please visit their websites:
Artist, Writer & Maker Mart (Day 2: QueerVoices Sunday)
Day 2 of the Artist, Writer & Maker Mart, sponsored by Queer Voices of MN.
Artist, Writer & Maker Mart (Day 1: Small Business Saturday)
Join us for the 3rd Annual Artist, Writer & Maker Mart at Open Book.
PRIVATE VIOLENCE: A conversation about gender-based violence and asylum in the United States
A conversation with Dr. Carol Cleaveland and Dr. Michele Waslin about their book – followed by a reception.
MNSAH Fall Tour: Open Book and Revitalization on Washington Avenue
MNSAH’s fall tour will feature Open Book, a center for reading, writing, and book arts located on Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.
Midwest Queer & Trans Zine Fest (Day 2)
The 2024 Midwest Queer & Trans Zine Fest will be held Saturday, October 19th and Sunday, October 20th, 2024 from 11am-5pm each day at Open Book
Midwest Queer & Trans Zine Fest (Day 1)
The 2024 Midwest Queer & Trans Zine Fest will be held Saturday, October 19th and Sunday, October 20th, 2024 from 11am-5pm each day at Open Book
Author Event: BECOMING AN ANTIRACIST SCHOOL LEADER: Patrick A. Duffy
Book Reading and Reception for
Becoming an Antiracist School Leader: Dare to be Real
by Patrick A. Duffy
Dr. Duffy will be signing books during the reception.
Guest Moderation by Miss Shannan Paul - Comedian - Speaker - Radio and Television Host.
EVOLVE: Velvet Underground Fall Fashion Show + Pop-Up
A Fall Fashion Show + Pop-Up featuring emerging and established local MN designers presented by The Fitting Room
Journalism in the Digital Age: Panel discussion
A conversation about a new approach to local news.
Presented by East Town Business Partnership
For/Word: MCBA’s Artist Collective Exhibition Reception
Join us for an exhibition reception celebrating For/Word with twenty of MCBA’s Artist Collective members.. Explore artists’ books, prints, and paper on view in the gallery, ask questions, and stay for refreshments.
BOOK LAUNCH: Dr. Sheila Sweeney
Book Launch event for Dr Sheila Sweeney PhD
GENERATIONAL TRANSFORMATION
Unapologetically Healing
Heartbroken Open Mic
Exchange: sliding scale suggested donation of $5-$25. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Performance type: whatever wants to be expressed. Poetry, essay, song, interpretative dance. You bring it.
Set limit: 5-7 minutes (You will be lovingly contained, so please time/practice what you’re going to share)
Sign up at the door.
Start prepping now. Tell your friends. Stock up on Kleenex. Get ready to be moved. I can't wait to see you there.
https://fb.me/e/4b7BMr95x
When an Artist Writes a Book: The Highs and Lows of a Visual Artist Who Enters the World of the Written Word, w/Susan Iverson
Join us for a free public talk with artist Susan Iverson as she demystifies the experience of writing and publishing a book as a visual artist.
Doors Open Minneapolis
Explore our venue for events & meeting rentals, visit the bookstore & gift shop, grab some a beverage at FRGMNT coffee and be a part of this free city-wide celebration of history, architecture, and culture.
Future Proofing Our Children: Po-Shen Lo
As AI advances at shocking speed, what is the future of humanity? How should people develop skills that will still be useful in a world filled with automation? The speaker, Carnegie Mellon math professor Po-Shen Loh, traveled to 100 cities last year, speaking with (and learning from) 250 audiences on this topic, on a tour which was even covered by the Wall Street Journal.
Minnesota Writers Series: Tartarus
Between three sections of Basquiat-inspired vignettes, “Tartarus” offers the reader an unflinching look into Chapman’s emerging understanding of his relationship to Black masculinity through familial ties, the oscillation between nihilism and hope, and the ever present tensions felt moving through a state which sees the existence of your body as an inherent danger.
"Black Swallowtail" Book Launch: Ta-coumba T. Aiken and Arleta Little
Join us for the launch of Black Swallowtail, Arleta Little’s first book of poetry, a collaboration with artist Ta-coumba Aiken!
2024 Rutherford Aris Memorial Lecture (Center for Premodern Studies)
2024 Rutherford Aris Memorial Lecture
"Mapping the Interconnected Medieval World: Diasporic Communities and Their Books," Dr. Suzanne Conklin Akbari (The Institute for Advanced Study)
More Information and Registration
Note: A reception will precede the lecture and begin at 6:00 pm. The lecture will begin at 7:00 pm. Both events are open to the public.
The Hatmaker's Wife: Ten Thousand Things
The Hatmaker's Wife
by Lauren Yee
March 7-10 and 14-17 at Open Book
Open Book Performance Hall
Thursday, Friday shows at 7:30pm
Saturday, Sunday shows at 4pm
Audio-Described – Mar 14
ASL-Interpreted – Mar 16
VALENTINE'S Makers Market
Come one, come all! Celebrate the season of love with thoughtful gifts from local artists! Over 30 venders will be present, each with their own unique work.
This event centers LGBT, BIPOC, and disabled artists, and all of the creators identify as at least one of these. This is a masked event to help protect the health of our community, and there will be free masks available at the entrance.
Book Launch: Dr. Jasmine L Harris' Black Women, Ivory Tower (New Date!)
Join us for the exciting book launch party celebrating the debut release of Black Women, Ivory Tower by Twin Cities-raised and University of MN alum, Dr. Jasmine L. Harris!
This in-person event will take place in the Open Book Performance Hall. With a happy hour mingle time, book excerpt reading, open Q&A and discussion with the author, and books available for purchase and signing thanks to Black Garnet Books.
Heartbroken Open Mic
Exchange: sliding scale suggested donation of $5-$25. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Performance type: whatever wants to be expressed. Poetry, essay, song, interpretative dance. You bring it.
Set limit: 5-7 minutes (You will be lovingly contained, so please time/practice what you’re going to share)
Sign up at the door.
Start prepping now. Tell your friends. Stock up on Kleenex. Get ready to be moved. I can't wait to see you there.
Heartbroken Open Mic
Exchange: sliding scale suggested donation of $5-$25. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Performance type: whatever wants to be expressed. Poetry, essay, song, interpretative dance. You bring it.
Set limit: 5-7 minutes (You will be lovingly contained, so please time/practice what you’re going to share)
Sign up at the door.
Start prepping now. Tell your friends. Stock up on Kleenex. Get ready to be moved. I can't wait to see you there.
Milkweed Books: Faculty/Student Reading Series: Jordan Young & Kate Nuernberger
Join us for the December entry in our monthly Faculty/Student Reading Series, where we host a local faculty writer from the University of Minnesota's Creative Writing MFA Program and a student writer, offering a chance for emerging local writers to place their work in conversation with an established writer. For this final reading of the Fall 2023 semester, MFA candidate Jordan Young will be reading with Kathryn Nuernberger, author of The Witch of Eye.
This reading will also feature an exclusive student discount on all purchases in the bookstore, where anyone attending with a valid student ID will receive 10% off as our show of appreciation for the Twin Cities student writing community.
About the readers
Jordan Young is a nonfiction writer from South Florida. Her essays explore relationships, race, cruelty and beauty. Her work can be found in Roxane Gay's The Audacity. Jordan holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago and is currently an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Kathryn Nuernberger is an essayist and poet who writes about the history of science and ideas, renegade women, plant medicines, and witches. Kathryn Nuernberger’s latest book is The Witch of Eye, which is about witches and witch trials. She is also the author of the poetry collections RUE, The End of Pink and Rag & Bone, as well as a collection of lyric essays, Brief Interviews with the Romantic Past. Her awards include the James Laughlin Prize from the Academy of American Poets, an NEA fellowship, and notable essays in the Best American series. She teaches poetry and nonfiction for the MFA program at University of Minnesota.
Elmer Lovrien Book Event
Join local writer Elmer Lovrien for a celebration of his recent book “The World of Others.” Takes place in room 203 at Open Book. All are welcome.
Small Business Saturday Artist & Writer Mart
Join us for the 2nd Annual Small Business Saturday Artist & Writer Mart at Open Book. Presented by Open Book, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Milkweed Editions, Weavers Guild of MN, the Loft Literary Center, and Doorway Massage. There will be hands-on art and writing activities, chair massages, and over 50 artists and writers selling unique items perfect for those on your shopping list, or for you!
Free to attend. Takes place on the 2nd floor of Open Book. Masks strongly encouraged.
Click here for more about participating artists and writers.
Milkweed Books: Faculty/Student Reading Series: Natalie Dalea & Kim Todd
Join us for the November entry in our monthly Faculty/Student Reading Series, where we host a local faculty writer from the University of Minnesota's Creative Writing MFA Program and a student writer, offering a chance for emerging local writers to place their work in conversation with an established writer. For this month's reading, MFA candidate Natalie Dalea will be reading with Kim Todd, author of Sensational: The Hidden History of America's "Girl Stunt Reporters."
This reading will also feature an exclusive student discount on all purchases in the bookstore, where anyone attending with a valid student ID will receive 10% off as our show of appreciation for the Twin Cities student writing community.
About the readers
Natalie Dalea is a midwestern mestiza artist. She is pursuing an MFA in creative nonfiction at the University of Minnesota. Her writing works to heal family wounds, with a thematic focus on feminism, faith, and forgiveness. Her essays can be found with The Offing, Pidgeonholes, Between Cities, and MN Artists. Her journalism can be found with WBEZ, The Chicago Reader, and The Portalist.
Kim Todd is the award-winning author of several books, including Sensational: The Hidden History of America's “Girl Stunt Reporters”, Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis, and Tinkering with Eden: A Natural History of Exotic Species in America, winner of the PEN/Jerard Award and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. Her essays and articles have appeared in Smithsonian, Salon, Sierra Magazine, Orion, and Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies, among other publications. She is a member of the MFA faculty at the University of Minnesota and lives in Minneapolis with her family.
Heartbroken Open Mic
Exchange: sliding scale suggested donation of $5-$25. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Performance type: whatever wants to be expressed. Poetry, essay, song, interpretative dance. You bring it.
Set limit: 5-7 minutes (You will be lovingly contained, so please time/practice what you’re going to share)
Sign up at the door.
Start prepping now. Tell your friends. Stock up on Kleenex. Get ready to be moved. I can't wait to see you there.
Maya Williams Poetry Reading & Discussion
In honor of Maya Williams' release of eir poetry collection, Refused a Second Date, join us to get engaged with sexual health resources from Family Tree Clinic and hear poems from Maya's book. The evening will consist of Family Tree Clinic sharing their work, and Maya sharing poems that will lead to a Q&A about queerness, interpersonal relationships, mental health, and sex, Event starts at 6 pm and will conclude at 8 pm in room 203 at Open Book. Masks are highly recommended. Capacity is 40 people. There will be no food at this event, so we encourage you to eat beforehand.
Author Bio: Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who is currently the poet laureate of Portland, Maine. Refused a Second Date is eir second full-length collection. Maya's debut collection Judas & Suicide was selected as a finalist for the New England Book Award in July 2023. Maya was one of three artists of color selected to represent Maine in The Kennedy Center's Arts Across America series in 2020. Maya was also selected as one of The Advocate's Champions of Pride in 2022. You can follow more of their work at mayawilliamspoet.com
CANCELED Milkweed Presents: A Spotlight on QTBIPOC Poets, hosted by torrin a. greathouse
TONIGHT’S EVENT IS CANCELED.
Join us for a special panel discussion in our monthly event series Milkweed Presents! For this conversation, torrin a. greathouse, author of the incredible poetry collection Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, curates a panel of (yet-to-be-announced) local guest QTBIPOC poets to read their work and talk about what community means to them.