It’s Independent Bookstore Day, and because we want to celebrate our Independence, we will be celebrating with sales and freebies. (TBD)  Come on by and pick up the new Midwest Indie Bookstore Roadmap!

On Wednesday, May 11, REBECCA MARJESDATTER and ANNA WALTZ read from their works.

Rebecca Marjesdatter is a poet and an a writer of fantasy and nonfiction. She is a member of
the poetry performance group Lady Poetesses from Hell. In 2000, she won the Short Form
Rhysling Award for speculative poetry. She also served as poetry editor for Tales of the
Unanticipated for many years. She is a human resident of the House of Seven Cats.

Anna Waltz was a script writer for Sony Online Entertainment and wrote for the popular
game EverQuest. She writes primarily science fiction and a little fantasy. She also dabbles in
comics and served as an animation artist for the online cartoon Iammatthhewian. Her
favorite authors include Heinlein, Clarke, and Lovecraft. Most folks ’round here know her as
the author of “Swedish Lutheran Vampires of Brainerd.” She lives in South Minnesota in the
House of Seven Cats.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural  speculative fiction organization that also sponsors DIVERSICON, a midsummer convention, the 29th edition of which will feature Guest of Honor T. AARON CISCO and Special Guest SYBIL SMITH, July 29-31, 2022.

Local author Eric Hanson’s short fiction has been published in McSweeney’s, the New York Tyrant, The Lifted Brow and Torpedo. His articles and satires have been published by The Paris Review, The Atlantic, The Mockingbird, Ampersand, The Week, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine, National Geographic, Hemispheres, Smithsonian, and others. He’s also the author of A Book Of Ages (Random House, 2008). He’s better known as an illustrator of book covers for Knopf, HarperCollins, NYRB, Farrar Straus, and others, and for magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, the New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Spy, WigWag, Vanity Fair, The Nation, The Washington Post, The LATimes, The New Republic, Die Zeit, The Spectator, and Rolling Stone. (Tartarus Press)

On May 12th, he will be here to read from his latest book, What I Was Afraid Of (Tartarus Press, 2022), accompanied by local musician Larry McDonough.

On Wednesday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m. TYLER TORK reads from his work. Tyler Tork is a frequent attendee and panelist at local science fiction conventions, and author of works of fantasy for a range of ages. Works include Doctor Dead, The Deep End, Rey and the Magic Amulet (for younger readers under the name Ollie Hoopoe).The Goodnight Agency — from which he will be reading — is his latest release, available soon. He also provides website building tips for authors and others at tornado.com.

From his early days as a leafy green vegetable in rural Louisiana, Tyler knew he wanted to write. His father, an English professor, wanted him to read Faulkner and Steinbeck, but inspection of these authors’ works revealed no space travel, no robots, no magic of any sort, and what’s the point of that? Instead he quickly exhausted the science fiction of the small local library and pestered them for more. These wonderful books, he realized, were written by people, and that seemed like a marvelous thing to do. And it is.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural  speculative fiction organization that also sponsors DIVERSICON, a midsummer convention, the 29th edition of which will feature Guest of Honor T. AARON CISCO and Special Guest SYBIL SMITH, July 29-31, 2022.

Queen of Swords Press is doing a re-release/first time in print edition of Michael Merriam’s homage to early 2000s Minneapolis with a queer romance and the ghost of the old streetcar line, Last Car to Annwn Station in July,  and Jennie Goloboy and Catherine never got in person releases for their books last year so they’re making up for lost time!  The authors will be on hand and copies of the books will be available.

Join us for this Speculations event in conjunction with Diversicon and meet their guest of honor, T. Aaron Cisco.

T. Aaron Cisco is a Contemporary Afrofuturist author, television producer, and contributing writer for Twin Cities Geek. His literary works include Teleportability, Dragon Variation, The Preternaturalist, Simple Not Easy, Shadow of the Valley, Big Ass Aliens, and Black Nerd Blue Box: The Wibbly Wobbly Memoir of a Lonely Alien.

He will be joined by Diversicon special guest Sybil Smith, a lifelong reader and viewer of science fiction who has beern an active member of several SF groups, including the Minnesota Science Fiction Society. She was a founding member of SF Minnesota and Diversicon, and has served several terns as SF Minnesota president.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural  speculative fiction organization that also sponsors DIVERSICON, a midsummer convention, the 29th edition of which will feature Guest of Honor T. AARON CISCO and Special Guest SYBIL SMITH, July 29-31, 2022.

On Wednesday, August 24, from 6:30-7:45 p.m., JASON D. WITTMAN reads from his fiction. Jason D. Wittman lives and works in Minneapolis. His story, “Femme Fatale,” was published in the hardcover anthology The Best of Baen Books, and his story “A Game of Knight Court” got an Honorable Mention in the 19th Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. More recently, he has published a story in Stupefying Stories #22.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 30th edition of which will occur July 14 -16, 2023 with Guests of Honor T. STEVEN BARNES and TANANARIVE DUE.

On Wednesday, November 16, CATHERINE LUNDOFF reads from her work. Catherine Lundoff is an award-winning writer, editor and publisher. She is a recipient of a 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award and was the Author Guest of Honor at Marscon 2022. Her books include Silver Moon, Blood Moon, Out of This World and Unfinished Business and, as editor, Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space). Her short stories and essays have appeared in such venues as Queer Weird Western Stories, Divergent Terror, Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives, Fireside Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, the SFWA Blog and several World of Darkness anthologies and games. She is the publisher at Queen of Swords Press and teaches writing and publishing classes at the Loft Literary Center, the Rambo Academy and Clarion West Online. Websites: www.catherinelundoff.net and www.queenofswordspress.com

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 30th edition of which will occur July 14 -16, 2023 with Guests of Honor T. STEVEN BARNES and TANANARIVE DUE.

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, Speculations holds its annual Round Robin Readings from 6:30-7:45 p.m. Readers bring from one to three pieces, each of wthem taking five-ten minutes. The group adjourns to a bistro when everyone interested has had the opportunity to read a couple of pieces or at 7:45, whichever comes first.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 30th edition of which will occur July 14 -16, 2023 with Guests of Honor T. STEVEN BARNES and TANANARIVE DUE.

On Wednesday March 8th at 6:30 pm, MICHAEL MERRIAM reads from his work. Michael Merriam is an author, performer, poet, and playwright with ten books and over 100 pieces of short fiction and poetry published. His stories and essays have appeared in magazines such as Uncanny Magazine, Cast of Wonders, and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. His scripts have been produced for stage and radio, and he has appeared in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, StoryFest Minnesota, and over the air on KFAI-FM and Minnesota Public Radio. Like most artists, he has worked a variety of odd jobs over the years, including short order cook, late night radio disc jockey, international freight specialist, and manager of a puppet troupe. He lives in Hopkins, MN with his wife and two exuberant cats.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural  speculative fiction organization that also sponsors DIVERSICON, a midsummer convention.