Writer's Block

For the Love of Logophiles: Moorhead Friends Supports Local Writers

April 22nd, 2021

By Annie Prafcke

annieprafcke@gmail.com

Moorhead Friends Writing Group gathers virtually to administer advice, brainstorm blueprints, and constructively critique. A welcoming bunch, Moorhead Friends provides encouragement for anyone striving to meet their writing goals or simply hoping to acquire motivation to put fingers to keyboard.

Setting

Moorhead Friends meets every other Tuesday from 7-9 pm via Zoom. Those who are interested can message the group via Facebook:

Read more...


Between Exile and Memory: Women Writers and NDSU Press

April 22nd, 2021

By Suzzanne Kelley, Editor-in-Chief 

https://www.ndsupress.org

When four gentleman scholars came together seventy-one years ago to establish the North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, they might have been hard-pressed to imagine that in the 21st century, a slate of women authors and their lady publisher would take the lead in delivering—as designated by the mission of the press—scholarly knowledge and…

Read more...


Lajimodiere releases book of poetry

November 14th, 2020

North Dakota State University Press has recently announced the release of its latest poetry collection, “His Feathers Were Chains” by Denise K Lajimodiere. This book is currently available from NDSU Press, Amazon, Baker & Taylor, and local independent bookstores. The title was inspired by a welded statue of a Native American warrior riding a horse, which is featured on the cover.

“Feathers” is divided into five sections: “Broken Glass Dreams,” “Identity,” “His Feathers…

Read more...


On the Ephemerality of Things: Thoughts on the Demise of a Small Literary Press

May 5th, 2020

by Debra Marquart
marquart@iastate.edu 

A few years ago, I was giving a talk at the Fargo Public Library about researching and writing my book, The Horizontal World, which is a memoir about growing up a rebellious farmer’s daughter on a North Dakota wheat farm. In the 1970s, I was a college student at Moorhead State University and then later a Fargo-based road musician. I wanted to come back to the library to express my gratitude for their services, which kept me alive during a period…

Read more...


Local Writer Explores the Sinister Side of Snowmen

December 23rd, 2019

Darrin Albert holding a copy of Snowcrow. photo courtesy of John Showalter

Winter has once again set in and Fargo is covered in an all too familiar blanket of snow. While the white stuff is considered the bane of drivers and businesses, it does come with some simple pleasures. There’s a stark beauty to seeing blankets of white cover the ground and hearing it crunch underfoot. And of course, there are snowball fights and building snowmen. They’re innocent enough pastimes, or are they? In local writer, Darrin Albert’s new novel “Snowcrow,” Frosty…

Read more...


​A spoon full of sugar: New poetry from Sarah Kobrinsky

November 20th, 2019

Sarah Kobrinsky

Former Fargo-Moorhead resident Sarah Kobrinsky has recently released her first full collection of poetry, Nighttime on the Other Side of Everything, published by New Rivers Press. The book is divided into three sections, each with a different theme and flavor.

“I tend to write things that are superficially funny but there’s always something darker going on,” Kobrinsky says. “You know the saying, ‘A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down’? That’s the first section. The…

Read more...


Literary scholar retraces route of famous author

October 30th, 2019

Henry Gurr at Coleman Museum Ellendale

By Ken Smith
kelandsmith@gmail.com

“There it is! Ellendale!”

“A water tower, groves of trees and buildings among them in the morning sunlight. I’ve just given in to the shivering which has been almost continuous the whole trip. The watch says seven-fifteen. A few minutes later we park by some old brick buildings. I turn to John and Sylvia who have pulled up behind us. ‘That was cold!’ I say. They just stare at me fish-eyed.”

“The town is clean and fresh and unlike the one…

Read more...


​The Price is right

October 16th, 2019

Victoria Price with her father Vincent Price

Vincent Price was a man of many hats. Known to many for his film and television career best known for portraying an array of villains. Along with that, he was an art collector and advocate, a gourmet chef and most importantly a father. His daughter Victoria Price has followed in his footsteps as a woman of many talents, she’s a speaker, lover of the roads less travelled, an interior designer, and writer, and part of her mission is to share her father’s legacy with both HPR and…

Read more...


​A Renaissance Mallman Breaks into Writing

October 9th, 2019

Mark Mallman press photograph 2019

Minneapolis-based musician Mark Mallman is extremely prolific. Since his stint with short-lived band The Odd in 1998, he has released eight full-length studio albums, with the most recent being 2016’s “The End is Not the End.” He has a well-earned reputation as being one of the Twin Cities’ must-see live acts and his own star on the wall outside First Avenue, and for good reason.

As well as prolifically recording albums since his debut almost two decades ago, there are points…

Read more...


​‘The necessary business of writing’

July 31st, 2019

Emily Vieweg - photograph by TwinFlame Visuals

During the next few months, local poet Emily Vieweg will be hard at work on her first full-length book of poetry. With two published chapbooks, a Master of Fine Arts in writing, and an endorsement from our local arts community, it’s safe to say Vieweg is heading towards a promising writing career.

“Over the past several months I have pulled together poems, done some editing and formatting, all the necessary business of writing,” Vieweg says. “Luckily I have connected with a…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL Tracker Pixel for Entry Blackbird Tracker Pixel for Entry GFArtFest Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry Empire Tracker Pixel for Entry Hjemkomst

Recently in:

By Bryce Vincent Haugen By all accounts, Democratic-Farmer-Labor U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar — first elected in 2006 — is the most popular active politician in Minnesota, whether she’s judged by polling or by her four electoral…

Saturday, June 13, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.Paradox Comics-N-Cards, 814 Main Ave., FargoCalling all nerds: it’s time to get down and nerdy with vendors aplenty, who are selling comics, toys, video games, board games, various collectibles…

June 6-7StatewideYou grab a line and I’ll grab a pole — and if you’re a North Dakota resident, you can head on down to your favorite fishing hole, no license needed (for this weekend, anyway). All other rules still apply…

By John Strand It took us over 30 years for us to reach out and ask for your help. The High Plains Reader has always been subscription free and paywall free. Our content has — and always will be — free to access for all of our…

By Ed RaymondWere women created to do the work of God?One of the first requests made by new Pope Leo XIV was to invite an expert on the alt-right conservative Catholic organization known as Opus Dei to brief him about its…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick GionThe scarfing of canned fish and seafood products by online food influencer types is hard to miss on social media these days. Some of the consumed morsels range from exquisite to downright nasty. However, there are many…

By Bryce Vincent Haugen The curtain has come down on Jade Presents. Fargo-Moorhead’s largest event promoter has brought thousands of shows — more than 150 per year — and hundreds of artists to the area over the past 36 years. On…

By Greg Carlson Steven Spielberg, who will turn 80 this December, returns to the subject of aliens among us in “Disclosure Day,” his first feature since “The Fabelmans” in 2022. Now closer to the end than the beginning of…

By Jacinta Zens I recently sat down for a chat with ceramicist Louie Albertson, Clay and Studio Program Manager at the Plains Art Museum. Before the interview, I had the pleasure of getting to know him a bit as a colleague when I…

Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Eli Liverani Cholesterol is probably one of the first molecules I have ever heard of in my childhood. Most of the relatives on my mother's side had high cholesterol in their blood, and apparently, levels above a certain range…

January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…

Chris M. Stoner I was recently dismissed from my role as drag show director and emcee for Dakota OutRight, a role I had been fulfilling for more than two decades. The reason given? My political commentary during shows, while…