Readings

The Arts Guild offers a series of Writers' Nights, in which local and regional writers read their prose and poetry in a comfortable and convivial atmosphere.

Enjoy a summer Saturday, the ambiance of the riverwalk Market Fair, and an outdoor literary event. Local writers will read their original poetry, fiction, or prose on the deck of the Contented Cow. Participating writers will include Kade Agan, Nancy Cantwell, Sarah Currier, Olivia Frey, Joy Ganyo, Marie Vogl Gery, Paula Granquist, D.E. Green, Mary Steil, and Joyce Fetzer Schutten.

Local writers will read their original poetry, fiction, or prose on the theme Fifty, in honor of five decades that the Northfield Arts Guild has supported the arts and artists in our community.
Click Here if you are interested in submitting work for this event.

Halloween Open Mic this Friday night at Tiny's Hot Dog Emporium.

Scary is the theme. Or not.

Be Scary
Wear a scary costume.
Read a scary poem or story.

Be there.
Be scared.

Anyone can participate, everyone is welcome to attend. Read original writing, or writing you love by someone else.

This evening will feature a group reading of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. If you would like to read, e-mail oliviafrey209@hotmail.com. Other readings welcome--original writing, or writing you love by someone else..

Scream Nite at the Contented Cow is sponsored by youth writing groups at The Key, ArtTech, and by the Arts Guild. All ages welcome for this spoken word and performance event. Anyone can participate, everyone is welcome to attend. Performers should come at 7:30 to register. Open Mic starts at 8:00. Original creative work preferred.

Warm a winter�s night with poetry and prose. Eleven local writers read their own work at this free event. Writers include Azna Amira, Karen Anway, Becky Boling, Maisie Ebert, D.E. Green, Christine Kallman, Kevin Krein, Angela Mailander, Leslie Schultz, Tim Taggart, Ellen Tichich.

Local writers submit their work for this juried reading.

Come and read a favorite poem . . . one you've written, or one by a writer you admire.

Not strictly a reading, but a workshop of a playwright's work. Actors read from a play by Amy Haslett-Marroquin. The purpose of �Under Construction� is to enable the playwright to develop her work through hearing it read aloud by actors and receiving feedback from an audience in a public setting.

This writers' night will include readings by Mary R. Ruth, Sharol Nau, Karen Helland, D.E. Green, Paula Granquist, Joy Ganyo, Olivia Frey, Sarah Cox Currier, and David Bly.

Not strictly a reading, but a workshop of a playwright's work. Actors will read from The Intruder, a play by Chris Kallman. Kallman will be on hand to hear feedback from the audience and actors.

The Arts Guild's summer reading will take place during the Market Fair on Saturday Aug 14.

We invite you to be a part of this program by creating poetry, fiction, or prose. There is no theme and no requirement as to literary form. If you submit work you should be available to read your work on August 14 (alternatively, you will need to arrange for another reader for your work.)

Submit a maximum of 3 poems and/or 2 fiction and nonfiction writings. Fiction and nonfiction prose should be no longer than 1500 words each. We reserve the right to choose which of your pieces will be a part of the program.

Deadline to submit writing to be included in the program is Friday, August 6. Submit writing by e-mail to Sheryl at the Arts Guild office or mail to Northfield Arts Guild, 304 Division St, Northfield, MN 55057.

THE VERY SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL V

Call for plays:

The Northfield Arts Guild is proud to solicit submissions for its Fifth Annual Very Short Play Festival (VSPF V) to be held April 23 and 24, 2010. The Northfield Arts Guild Theater will host the festivals.

Submissions cannot exceed ten minutes in length when acted fully on stage. Your play can be two seconds long, or two minutes, or nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds; but it cannot exceed ten minutes.

Submissions can be complete short plays or stand-alone excerpts from longer works. Comedy, drama, interactive, musical, absurdist, monologue, any type, any subject matter will be considered.

Since you will be required to produce your selected play for stage, writers should live within the general southeastern Minnesota / Twin Cities area. If you are outside that geographical area, you may submit a play, but, if selected, you are still responsible for getting that play to Northfield, MN on April 23 or 24, 2010.

Writers of ANY AND ALL AGES are encouraged to submit their work.

Writers who have their plays chosen then must find their own actors and direct their play for performance. The winning youth plays will be performed on both Friday night, April 23 and possibly as a matinee on Saturday, April 24. The selected adult plays will perform on Saturday night only, April 24, 2010.

All technical elements of the play must be staged as minimalistically as possible; lighting, sound, sets and props should not be a significant factor in the action of the play.

Submission deadline is March 15, 2010.

Winning authors will be notified by e-mail on or before March 31, 2010.

Please direct electronic submissions to Brendon Etter: better@carleton.edu
(please send script as a plain text file or PDF if possible)
OR mail paper copies of your script to:
The Northfield Arts Guild
Attn: Very Short Play Festival V
304 Division Street
Northfield, MN 55057

Submission Deadline for "Summer Sonnets":
July 15, 2009
Selections will be made and writers notified by early August.

Writers in the Northfield area are invited to submit 3 to 5 pages of their prose, poetry, or plays to the Northfield Arts Guild for jurying by a group of peer writers who select what will be read. This reading has no specified theme.

Submit work to the Northfield Arts Guild, 304 Division Street, Northfield, MN 55057 or via e-mail, approximately six weeks before the reading. Electronic submissions are preferred, though not required. When specific submission deadlines are set, they will be posted above.

The Writers' Night series of events was created and and implemented by local writers working through the Arts Guild. If you are interested in participating in this group by serving on a peer-jury to decide on works to be read, please contact program co-ordinator Jan Rohwer, or call 507-645-8877. Help is also appreciated in choosing writers' night themes, publicizing, and other behind the scenes work.

Writers' Nights Past

To view these documents, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5 or better.

Click here  to read the collected works from the Risking reading of winter 2006. Thanks to Rob Hardy for creating this e-zine format.

Click here  to read the collected works from the Sense of Place reading of autumn 2005. Thanks to Rob Hardy for creating this e-zine format.

Click here  to read the collected works from the Errors and Comedy reading of summer 2005. Thanks to Rob Hardy for creating this e-zine format.

Click here  to read the collected works from the All in the Family reading of fall 2004. Thanks to Rob Hardy for creating this e-zine format.

Click here  to read the collected works from the March Hare of spring 2004. Thanks to Rob Hardy for creating this e-zine format.