Join Us at Normandale's Midwinter Writing Festival

Next week, on Thursday, February 17th, the Midwinter Writing Festival returns to Normandale Community College. Now in its second year, this year’s festival includes over thirty-six sessions on all aspects of writing taking place throughout the day. James Levine, author of The Blue Notebook, delivers the keynote address from 1:30-2:50. Click on the attached schedule to sample the sessions students, faculty, and visitors to Normandale have a chance to attend.



The keynote speaker, James Levine, is a world-renowned author who recently served as professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He has worked with the World Health Organization and the United Nations, his research focusing on child labor. It was this very research that took him to streets of Mumbai, India, where a real-life encounter with a young girl on the infamous Street of Cages haunted him and led to his first novel, The Blue Notebook. To hear more, listen to this interview on Minnesota Public Radio: ttp://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/21/midmorning2/


Besides the keynote address, there are many other wonderful offerings throughout the day. At noon, NCC faculty member Mark Plenke facilitates a panel called “Writing for a Living: Working Journalists in the Twin Cities Scene,” that brings together Star Tribune Higher Education Reporter Jenna Ross, Rieta Buttaro from Kare-11, and local journalists Caitlin Burgess and David Brauer. Other sessions will show you “Magical Realism for Beginning Spell-casters,” introduce you to “Sherlock Holmes and the Victorian Age,” or allow you to sample an ancient art form by learning about “Haiku and You.”


The Midwinter Writing Festival is organized by the Normandale Writing Center’s WCAC committee. A full program will be available soon. Below, you'll find a listing of events. We look forward to seeing you there!