Women Who Write

When: Sunday, March 18, 2018, 1-4 p.m.

Where: Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota West Bank

What: A free event co-presented by Quatrefoil library and the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection

The popular annual get-together of women writers and their fans returns Sunday, March 18. Hear from novelists, poets, essayists and short story writers in literary fiction, creative non-fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, essay, Young Adult and romance.

The free reading at Andersen library is followed by a chance to meet the authors, get books signed and browse the Girlpond Pop-Up Shop. Those who will be reading include:

Catherine Friend
Catherine Friend is the author of romantic adventures ”The Spanish Pearl,” ”The Crown of Valencia,” ”A Pirate’s Heart,” “The Copper Egg,” and ”Spark.” She’s also written memoirs, nonfiction, and children’s books. She’s won a Minnesota Book Award, a McKnight/Loft Fellowship, the Alice B. Readers Appreciation Award, an Independent Book Publishers Association award, four Golden Crown Literary Society Awards, and has been a Lambda Literary Award finalist. She’s narrated two of her books for Dog Ear Audio. Catherine will read from her novel in progress, Ghost of the Heart.

Catherine Lundoff
Catherine Lundoff is an award-winning writer, editor and publisher from Minneapolis. Her books include Night’s Kiss, Crave, Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories, Hellebore and Rue: Tales of Queer Women and Magic, Silver Moon and Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories. She is the publisher at Queen of Swords Press, a new genre fiction publisher specializing in fiction from out of this world. Catherine will read from new fiction.

MB Panichi
MB Panichi is an author for Bella Books. Her books include “Saving Morgan” and the sequel, “Running Toward Home.” Both are sci-fi/romance/adventure stories. Her book “Choosing Love” is a present-day romance. She is working on the next book in the Shaine and Morgan series. MB lives with her wife and dogs in Richfield, Minnesota, and works as a Software Quality Assurance Analyst. When she isn’t working, she writes, reads obsessively, trains her dogs and occasionally takes her frustrations out on her drum kit. She will read from the next book in the Shaine and Morgan Moon Base series, tentatively titled “Blood and Roses.”

Melanie Hoffert
Melanie Hoffert is the author of the memoir, “Prairie Silence,” which won the 2014 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. Her work has been published in the Baltimore Review and New Millennium Writings, where her essays won each publication’s non-fiction writing award. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University. She will read from a piece called “The Culinary Lessons of a Person Without Needs” which will be published in Fugue. The essay is about what happens when cooking replaces intimacy in a relationship.

Rachel Gold
Raised on world mythology, fantasy novels, comic books and magic, Rachel Gold is well suited for her careers in marketing and writing. She is the award-winning author of multiple queer and trans young adult novels—including ”Being Emily,” the first young adult novel to tell the story of a trans girl from her perspective. She has an MFA in Writing from Hamline University. She will read from the new edition of “Being Emily,” to be published in May with more current language and science, additional scenes, a new epilogue, an introduction by poet & Harvard professor Stephanie Burt and a new author’s note.

Stephani Maari Booker 
Stephani Maari Booker of Minneapolis works on the page and on the stage with her multiple marginalized identities: African American, lesbian, lower-class, nerdy and sexy. Her speculative fiction has been published in Aphelion Webzine, The Future of Us: An Anthology andJalada 02: Afrofuture(s). She also has nonfiction, erotic fiction and poetry in many other publications. For more information about Stephani’s work, go to www.goodreads.com/athenapm. She will read a specially prepared monologue/excerpt from a new science fiction short story called “Adjudicated”

Paula Overby
In her book “The Transgender Myth,” Paula Overby writes about fighting for her rights as a transgender woman and a mother. She physically transitioned in 2009 while representing herself in a custody battle. Her experience in family court and the fight for marriage equality in 2012 led her into politics. She has twice run for the U.S. House of Representatives and is running for U.S. Senate against Amy Klobuchar. She is an ardent peace activist and believes it’s time for a major shift in public policy. She still views herself primarily as a mother to her three children.

The all-volunteer Quatrefoil library is open 7-9 p.m. weeknights, Wednesdays 1-5 p.m. and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekends. (612) 729-2543, follow Q on Facebook, or visit qlibrary.org.