Join authors whose writings are collected in the anthology Fierce Lament at the East Side Freedom Library.
Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.

Join us at the East Side Freedom Library for a reading featuring the writers collected in the publication Fierce Lament, edited by Camille Gage from Red Bird Chapbooks.

In times of political turbulence, it is essential that the creative community contribute to the historical record with a compassionate yet unflinching eye.

Fierce Lament is an anthology that brings together over 30 poets, essayists, artists, and activists who were asked to respond to the query, “How do we sustain ourselves and our communities in the face of intense uncertainty fueled by global climate change, growing nationalism and political extremism fueled by social media and the Internet.”

The contributors to Fierce Lament intimately examine these issues, and offer their intellect, raw emotion, anger, and insight, rooted in hope and an unflagging belief in the role of the arts to support and sustain us.

Contributors for this event:

Lisa Marie Brimmer is a Queer, Black, Transracial Adoptee artist. She has been published in Ishmael Reed’s Konch Magazine, Gazillion Voices, On the Commons Magazine, Burn Something and the anthology Walk Towards It. Her work has been performed in many Twin Cities venues (Pillsbury House Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, Black Dog Cafe, Intermedia Arts, SPACE, the Turf Club, Fineline Music Cafe, The Loft Literary Center’s Equilibrium Series, Open Book and more) and a few in Wisconsin. She has also been featured in Twin Cities Daily Planet, The Spokesman Recorder, Insight News and on the air with Minnesota Public Radio and KFAI. Learn more: lisamariebrimmer.com and @2speakease.

Tami Mohamed Brown holds an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University. She was a recent writer/artist in residence at Devil’s Tower National Monument and has been the recipient of a MN Emerging Writer’s Grant, a Loft Mentor Series Award, and a Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Fellowship. Her work has appeared in Brevity, Mizna, Sweet and elsewhere. Tami lives in Bloomington and finds inspiration on her daily bus commute to her office job in downtown Minneapolis. She writes about all of these things. Tami Mohamed Brown is the Red Bird editor for the Fierce Lament book project.

Pam Costain is a community organizer and social justice activist who recently retired after ten years of work to strengthen Minneapolis Public Schools. She was an elected member of the Minneapolis School Board and most recently was CEO of AchieveMpls, the strategic nonprofit partner of the public schools. Pam grew up in North Dakota and spent a great deal of time in her home state during the struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline. She helped to found Wellstone Action in 2003 and was their Director of Education and Training for 5 years. Prior to that she led the Resource Center of the Americas for 14 years, focusing on globalization, immigration, trade and human rights.

Michael Kleber-Diggs is a poet and essayist. His writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, Poetry City, North Dakota Quarterly, Paper Darts, Water~Stone Review and a few anthologies and collaborations. He is a past Fellow with the Givens Foundation for African-America Literature, a past-winner of the Loft Mentor Series in Poetry. His work has been supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Jerome Foundation. Michael lives in Saint Paul with his wife, Karen, and their 16-year-old daughter.

Camille J. Gage began her creative journey in her teens, writing music and touring with a variety of bands including the all-female alt-rock band Tetes Noires. She later segued into public art and mixed media performance, often with a topical edge. Gage has produced many community-based public art projects and was a founding member of Form + Content Gallery, an artist’s cooperative in Minneapolis. As an artist and engaged citizen, Gage continues to be inspired by the intersection of art and political expression and believes that artists who choose this path have a role to play in shaping the public consciousness.