A Writer's Guide to Minneapolis: Libraries, Bookstores, Writing Groups, and Presses

The main branch of Hennepin County Library holds Special Collections, Children's Special Collections, and a zine collection. Groups can book its meeting rooms.

The Athenaeum is a nonprofit library, founded in 1859, that shares space with Special Collections at Central. Its rare holdings run from a History of Books and Printing collection on typography and fine binding to about 152 editions of Aesop's Fables. Search them in the Hennepin County Library catalog.

Walker is Uptown's branch library, a short walk from Magers & Quinn. Reserve its meeting rooms online.

You need a U Card to get in. Inside are study rooms you can reserve, the McCollister Collection for Contemporary Literature near the entrance, and the Borchert Map Library.

Writers researching the region will want the Upper Midwest Literary Archives, which cover independent publishing and the writers of the Upper Midwest; Andersen also holds the Children's Literature Research Collections and the Givens Collection of African American Literature. Anyone can use the reading room. Book at least a week ahead.

Magers & Quinn sells new and used books and is one of the largest independent bookstores in the Midwest. Authors read here often. The store also buys used books.

Moon Palace has sold new and used books, zines included, since 2012, and it hosts readings and launches regularly. The Midwest Independent Booksellers Association named its owners Midwest Bookseller of the Year.

Louise Erdrich owns Birchbark, which specializes in Indigenous American books and art. Indigenous authors and artists also appear at its separate event space at Loring Corners, Birchbark Bizhiw.

Milkweed Editions runs this store on the first floor of Open Book. The shelves carry Milkweed's own titles along with books from other presses, and the store hosts readings and launches.

Volunteers run Boneshaker, a bookstore built around leftist politics. It moved from Seward to LynLake in 2025 and runs a risograph print studio.

Uncle Hugo's (science fiction) and Uncle Edgar's (mystery) share one storefront a block from Moon Palace. Uncle Hugo's has sold science fiction since 1974.

DreamHaven carries new and used science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It also stocks film books, comics, and graphic novels.

Wild Rumpus stocks about 15,000 children's titles and keeps cats, chinchillas, and birds in the store. Writers of picture books and middle-grade novels can see what is on the shelf now.

Writing groups meet in the second-floor Literary Commons. Downstairs, FRGMNT Coffee is open every day.

The Loft rents private writing studios by the month to donors at a qualifying giving level. Email or call to arrange a tour.

Spyhouse roasts its own coffee and opens this Nicollet Avenue café every day. It has four other cafés in the city.

Dogwood's Northeast café is a large room with hard and soft seating, a bar, and patios, and the roastery sits across from the bar. There is a ping-pong room, too.

The East Lake café is one open room with booths, small tables, and a long community table.

Mosaic sits steps from Magers & Quinn and sells gluten-free baked goods. It keeps daytime hours and closes two days in the middle of the week.

Bryant-Lake Bowl is a bowling alley, a restaurant, and a 90-seat theater in one building. The theater stages comedy, cabaret, film, and Minnesota Fringe shows, and the kitchen serves breakfast through late night.

The Walker's café serves coffee, pastries, sandwiches, and salads above the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It keeps gallery hours.

The Dakota pairs dinner with live jazz most nights. It is on Nicollet Mall, the same street as Central Library.

Icehouse serves dinner with live music, including weekly residencies and songwriter series. It is a block from Spyhouse.

The Loft teaches writers at every level, from single classes to year-long projects in memoir, the novel, and poetry. It also runs the Mentor Series, manuscript critique, writing groups, and readings.

MCBA teaches letterpress, binding, and marbling in workshops and one-on-one tutorials. Members get studio access. Both galleries are free.

Rain Taxi publishes a review of books and has run a reading series since 1998. Each year it also puts on the one-day Twin Cities Book Festival, with readings, conversations, and a large book fair.

Mizna publishes a journal of Arab and SWANA literature and art twice a year. It also hosts readings and produces the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival.

University faculty can apply for a semester in residence at the institute to work on research or creative projects. It also funds interdisciplinary collaboratives and runs public lecture series.

Thinking about starting a journal or choosing a publisher? Publishing Services consults on both, as well as editorial practice and licensing. It publishes open monographs, journals, and textbooks under the Libraries' imprint and reviews proposals year-round.

The Center for Writing helps instructors teach with writing through consultations and workshops. It also runs the Writing-Enriched Curriculum program and gives grants for the study of writing in the disciplines.

The Humanities Center runs public programs and programs for educators. Its grants go to individuals as well as nonprofits, schools, and museums.

Graywolf is a nonprofit press publishing poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translation. Preparing a manuscript for Graywolf

Coffee House publishes literary fiction, essays, poetry, and books that sit between genres. It is a nonprofit. Preparing a manuscript for Coffee House

Milkweed, a nonprofit, has published literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry since 1980. Its offices are in Open Book. Preparing a manuscript for Milkweed

The press publishes scholarly and trade books in the humanities and social sciences. Books about Minnesota and the Upper Midwest are a standing part of its list. Preparing a manuscript for the press

Button Poetry started in Minneapolis in 2011. Alongside collections and chapbooks, it publishes poetry as video and audio.

Lerner publishes for children and young adults across sixteen imprints, from picture books and nonfiction to graphic novels and YA fiction.

The Historical Society's press publishes books about Minnesota, including history, memoir, children's books, and cookbooks.

The State Arts Board's grant program for individual artists covers writers of poetry and prose.

The Loft administers these fellowships with the McKnight Foundation. It awards them in children's literature every year and alternates creative prose with poetry and spoken word.

Each year the Mentor Series pairs early-career Minnesota writers with local and visiting mentors in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and writing for young readers. It is the Loft's oldest mentorship program.

The Jerome Foundation gives multi-year fellowships to early-career artists in Minnesota and New York City. Literature is one of the eligible fields.

The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library runs the state's book awards for Minnesota authors. Self-published books are eligible, and the categories range from poetry and the novel to memoir, nonfiction, and books for young readers.

This page lists scholarships, writing prizes, and writing resources at the University of Minnesota.

The same guide, for Hamline students in St. Paul.

Students at other schools can start from this index of every university page.

Researchers traveling to use the Andersen collections can apply for travel awards and fellowships.

MCBA's letterpress and binding studios are open to members, and its shop sells artists' books and zines. Free tours run on the first Saturday of each month.

For a zine or a chapbook, Boneshaker's risograph studio offers sliding-scale Riso 101 workshops, supervised open studio time, and a saddle stapler for binding.

Bookmobile prints short runs of books for presses, museums, and artists. Work is by quote, and the offices take no walk-ins.

Coffman Union's print center binds theses in hardcover or softcover on archival paper. It mainly serves University students, and students from other schools can contact it.