Debut Novels by Minnesota Authors
Leslie Bazzett and Leila Renee
Saturday, November 7, 2026
2pm, Gateway Room
Here’s a chance to celebrate two riveting first novels by women who call Minnesota home! Leslie Bazzett’s Mia recounts the obsessive relationship between two expatriate woman in Mexico who begin to present themselves as mother and daughter, blurring the line between playful reinvention and a disturbed and dangerous fantasy. Leila Renee’s Soft Spots offers a darkly humorous coming of age story set in a more familiar Midwest; it follows a recent college graduate who pursues her dreams in the working world while carrying the cumbersome weight of family trauma. These are character-driven novels that excel in their fearlessness, asking hard questions about how we can define ourselves and achieve independence in a world of constant challenge.
About the Authors
Leslie Bazzett’s fiction debuted in the New England Review. Subsequent work has appeared in NER, Virginia Quarterly Review, Carolina Quarterly, West Branch, and The Louisville Review, among other places. One of her stories in NER received “Special Mention” in the Pushcart Prize Anthology and another was listed as “Notable” in The Best American Short Stories. She has been a finalist for a Rona Jaffe Award and a recipient of the NER Award for Emerging Writers. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, poet Michael Bazzett, and their two children. Mia is her debut novel.
Leila Renee earned an MFA in Fiction from Syracuse University and has published stories in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Prairie Schooner, Kenyon Review, and other journals. The recipient of the Gulf Coast Prize in Fiction and a Fulbright Award, Leila is originally from Milwaukee and now lives in Minneapolis, where she teaches at the University of St. Thomas.