Dobby Gibson's latest collection, Hold Everything (Graywolf Press), moves at the speed of breaking news as it makes a plea for grace in a world running short on mercy. Its epistolary poems put us in correspondence with Edo-period poets and 1980s hair-metal gods, artificial intelligence and hotel soaps. Gibson’s poems demonstrate the many ways a deeper attention to the marvels and horrors of the contemporary world can form a kind of civil disobedience. Hold Everything gathers up the harbingers of our turbulent world as it reaches for hope and evinces wonder.

The author of four previous books of poetry, including It Becomes You (Graywolf), Gibson lives in St. Paul, MN. At this special book launch, he will be in conversation with Carmen Giménez, Director and Publisher of Graywolf Press and the author of several acclaimed poetry collections as well. This Bookend Event of the 2024 Twin Cities Book Festival celebrates the arts of poetry, publishing, and partnership in one fell swoop—not to be missed!

As part of Book Week at the University of Minnesota, Kate DiCamillo will offer a meditation on how reading and writing stories can help us become ourselves. As many readers already know, the theme of hope amidst impossible circumstances is a common thread in DiCamillo’s writing, which includes award-winning titles such as Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and The Magician’s Elephant. A master storyteller, she has written for a wide range of ages, and has over 44 million books in print worldwide; she is also a passionate literacy advocate and has served as a Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

Book Week is an annual celebration of children’s books and authors organized at the University of Minnesota since 1941. The Twin Cities Book Festival is proud to partner with the children’s literature program at the U of M to include Kate DiCamillo’s talk as one of our Bookend Events! This event will be available via Zoom for those who cannot attend in person; registration and more details HERE.