Mark Gustafson
How and why did Minnesota, distant from both dream coasts, become a literary mecca? Why not Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, St Louis, or Cleveland? What made the Twin Cities fertile ground for the birth and growth of the Loft Literary Center, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and Milkweed Editions, and an ideal place for Graywolf Press and Coffee House Press to transplant themselves? The Minnesota literary renaissance of the 1960s and 70s was due at the start to one generous and visionary poet, Robert Bly, and his gift for generating excitement across the state, involving many young poets, and creating a community of mutually supportive writers. A florescence of poetry reading series, poetry magazines, small press books, and literary organizations ensued. Read 'Sowing Seeds' to appreciate fully the origins of the wondrous scene in which we are privileged to live.
