Earth Day 2000 with Paul Gruchow

Writers Rising Up’s first poetry reading was held on Earth Day at the Eden Prairie Water Treatment facility in 2000 with Minnesota author and environmentalist Paul Gruchow and poet Roseanne Lloyd. This was a first step to embracing the Literature of Place as something much more than the spoken word or words on a page. Our relationship to the place we live, work and play is integral to our well-being and happiness.

The seed was planted long ago after reading the poems and essays of 19th century pastoral writers. Dormant since eighth-grade English, the genesis of Writers Rising Up to Defend Place, Natural Habitat, Wetlands grew out of living in a place with an abundance of natural beauty and a continued education in literary art. The 501-C-3 collaborated on readings and workshops with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Barnes & Noble and Dunn Brothers at the Smith Douglas More House, featuring Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen, poets Bill Holm, Deborah Keenan, Michael Dennis Brown and award-winning author Carol Bly.

https://www.swnewsmedia.com/eden_prairie_news/news/ep-givers-writers-rising-up-embraces-the-literature-of-place/article_675880e2-59e5-5d9f-85e2-a78cbad339ea.html