Join Cracked Walnut, the League of Minnesota Poets and the East Side Freedom Library Tuesday, October 10 for a special edition of the 2023 Cracked Walnut Literary Festival. This event’s theme is Mental Health.

Readers: Jenny Thrasher ◼ Brendan Brophy ◼ Cassie Kluess ◼ Jessi Atherton ◼ Renee Butters “Awanishbaasin-The Breath of the Spirits” ◼ JENNY LANDON keynote

Jenny Thrasher has dedicated 24 years to understanding and overcoming health challenges. Despite a degree in Psychology, she attributes her authority on the matter to her life experiences. After losing her father to suicide and almost losing her daughter, she realized intervention alone isn’t enough. To truly prevent suicide, people have to live a life they love.  Jenny is the author of Growing Through Grief a guide to healthy healing after losing a loved one to suicide. She is a recognized advocate for suicide prevention and the founder of Growing Out Of Darkness and All That We Are.

Brendan Brophy Brendan Brophy is a poet living in Minneapolis, and the Youth Chair on the executive board of the League of Minnesota Poets. His work has been featured through several institutions such as the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Kate’s University, Anoka Ramsey Community College, and Augsburg University.
Brendan says that: “Poetry is the closest thing to magic that we have in this world, in that it has the ability to take the truly vexing trials we face in life, and mold them into something beautiful, sustaining, and life-affirming.” 

Cassie Kluess is from Shakopee, Minnesota and works for the school district as a paraeducator. While she is often referred to as the quietest person in the room, her writing makes it clear that her mind is not so silent. Many of her poems can be found in older editions of Shakopee High School’s literature magazine, although, you don’t have to go back too far to find them. Loss, love, and understanding are often found within her work as she tries to better know them herself. Her love of literature was sparked early on through comic books which she proudly recognizes and appreciates. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can often be found strolling along sidewalks and park trails listening to her favorite 1970s and 1980s tunes.

Jessi Atherton, Jessi Atherton is a poet, a mother, a Veteran, and healer. Her poetry touches on many emotional life experiences such as childhood abuse, trauma, adoption, addiction, military service, motherhood, relationships, grief, and the journey of healing and finding inner peace. Jessi has a B.S. in Community Health (2007) and Nursing (2011) from Northern Michigan University. She currently attends Walden University for master’s in nursing (2023) in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Jessi is a Warrior Writers facilitator, a member of the League of Minnesota Poets, a Minnesota Humanities Center 2019 Veteran Voices awardee, a board member on the MN DAV and Minnesota Assistance Counsel for Veterans. Her work has been published in Nodin Press, The Cuddy Foundation, Iliad Press, McGregor Publishing, and the International Library of Poetry. Her first full collection of poetry, The Time War Takes, is forthcoming with Middle West Press in March 2023.

Be sure to mark your calendar for the other Festival events, including the GLBTQ+ themed event on October 22.

This event is free and open to everyone for the cause of solidarity!