Minnesota Spokesman Recorder: "The wealth of stories, poetry, and perspectives leaves me filled with gratitude"

In “We Are Meant to Rise,” Minnesota indigenous writers and writers of color reflect on and react to the year 2020: the year that began the COVID pandemic, a year ripped apart by the brutal police murder of George Floyd, a year of isolation and uprising.

A brilliant and rich gathering of voices on the American experience of this past year and beyond, from Indigenous writers and writers of color from MinnesotaCarolyn Holbrook, one of the editors of this anthology, is also the founder of More Than A Single Story. She explains that the name “is loosely based on Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s well-known TED Talk, ‘The Danger of a Single Story,’ which warns against fostering stereotypes by treating one story of a people as their only story.”

No danger of that in this volume! Some of the 30 contributors are new to me, some I have read and admired for years. Each has a unique voice and story. Some resonate readily with me, some challenge with new insights, and a few seem too abstract for my understanding.

Overall, the wealth of stories, poetry, and perspectives leaves me filled with gratitude.

Read the full review in the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder.