Writer's Block

Is There Anybody Out There? ‘The Space Pen Club’ and Beyond

October 2nd, 2023

By Sabrina Hornung

sabrina@hpr1.com

Photo provided by Martin Keller

North Dakota native Martin Keller is no stranger to the pen, in fact, he went from working as a freelance journalist and staff writer and editor, contributing to publications such as City Pages, The Star Tribune, the Mpls-St. Paul Business Journal, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Final Frontier, and countless others, to working as a publicist for Dr. Steven Greer, MD, who founded the controversial…

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​Allowing for Pause and Possibility: Kevin Zepper Discusses His Latest Chapbook

April 23rd, 2023

By Sabrina Hornung

sabrina@hpr1.com

Kevin Zepper is no stranger to the literary scene in North Dakota. An author, poet, MSUM English and humanities professor, photographer, he’s a man of many hats.

He has led memoir workshops with residents at Eventide, he is a 2022-23 visiting Poetry Out Loud poet through the North Dakota Council on the Arts; and be sure to be on the lookout for his photos in the Plains Art Gala this year.

His latest chapbook, “The Shaman Said” is a collection of…

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​Giving Region a Voice

March 15th, 2023

By Dr. Suzzanne Kelley

https://ndsupress.submittable.com/submit

The Ticket to Our Show Is the Book

In a state vibrant with the arts, North Dakota State University Press is proud to hold up our end when it comes to all things literary. In fact, we operate under the premise that publishing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction is a practice where all the other arts intersect.

We publish books, taking scholarly and literary manuscripts and connecting the public with that art, connecting readers…

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​The 54th Annual UND Writers Conference: The Healing Arts

March 8th, 2023

There’s been a lot of talk lately about how the body impacts the mind. We hear a lot about getting enough sleep (and “sleep hygiene”) and the “gut biome” and other things. But, we’re told it goes the other way too. Neuroscientists and doctors are learning more all the time about how the mind impacts the body. This is perhaps most prevalent in new fields like epigenetics (“how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work”) or…

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No More Shall We Die: A Slum in South America

February 12th, 2023

By Corey Eno Ruffin

submit@hpr1.com

Hi, I’m Corey. I'm a traveling artist and performer who’s in Colombia for an extended South American walkabout.

I’m at a hostel in Bogota. Not doing much research into location, only knowing that I wanted to be in the historical part because I like history, I ended up in a bit of a crime-plagued area. This district, La Candelaria, is boho enough for my hipster sensibilities, having the adequate coffee, pastries, and tattooed ‘crypsters’ (look…

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​Taylor Brorby’s ‘Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land’

August 17th, 2022

By Waylon Hedegaard

retiringwithcats@gmail.com

I have just read a book that affected me unlike anything in years…perhaps ever. Riveted, I tackled it in less than eighteen hours.

Being from North Dakota, one could hardly avoid hearing about Taylor Brorby’s Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land. However, as with any lover of books, my list of what to read is always packed with neglected prospects. Yet, when…

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​Publishing Matters: The State of the Literary Arts

March 16th, 2022

By Suzzanne Kelley

suzzanne.kelley@ndsu.edu

Paper shortages and supply chain problems be damned. I’m here to report that the state of literary arts in our region is well and good. New books are still coming your way and our bookstore owners welcome you to shop the shelves! Readers have more books and author events to choose from than ever. Over the past two years, our area publishers, libraries, and humanities organizations have learned to navigate online platforms as ways to connect…

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​Posthumous Memoir Relays ND Pioneer Experience

September 15th, 2021

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

Larry Kruckenberg of Cheyenne, WY, a native of Hazen, ND, has authored a new book, “Big Bend Country: A Journey of Good Times, Hard Times, and Hope,” available from GRHC.

Kruckenberg shares memories of his German-Russian mother, Lorraine Guenthner Kruckenberg. He brings the travails of working a prairie farm into sharp focus. It was a good life, but a hard life, filled with work and family.

Through his mother’s words, Kruckenberg details…

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Venturia ND Native Pens New Book

April 22nd, 2021

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu; or go to library.ndsu.edu/grhc.

18 March 2021

Florence Dockter Scherbenske has authored a new book, “My Impossible Dream: You Can Do It Too, Germans from Russia Immigrant Grandparents Ethnic Lifestyle.” Florence grew up on a farm near Venturia, McIntosh County, south central North Dakota. She vividly shares the story of her German-Russian family.

In her Dedication, Florence writes, “I give tribute to my maternal grandmother, Katherine…

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HPR: 52nd Annual UND Writers Conference Issue

April 22nd, 2021

18 March 2021

Spring is almost here, and we might even be venturing outdoors to experience the warmth of the sun. After 2020, which feels like it will never end, 2019 seems like a whole other world, but it is thought of by some as "the year of Greta Thunberg." After traveling by boat to North America, the 16-year-old delivered an impassioned speech at the UN Climate Action Summit and became the face of climate change.

And, while some may think of it as a far-off time in the future (is it…

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