Is it true that Minnesota has the largest urban Native population in the country?
That may be true, I know that we’re way up there. We certainly have one of the largest concentrations of Native people. The need for community building and for an outlet for creative expression for Native people here is very real. You’ve done a lot for Native writers, and for new and unknown writers. You’ve participated at the Loft and other venues and drawn crowds for writers who would otherwise not necessarily have had wide audiences. I was peripherally involved in the Loft years ago. Now that energy goes more in the direction of the bookstore, to create a community of encouragement for writers, Native and non-Native writers, to help writers get read and to bring people together in certain ways. That’s the emphasis. And how are you dealing with the current political situation? Well, The Master Butchers Singing Club is a book about war. My grandfather fought in the trenches of World War I. I have to talk about that. It’s the biggest privilege to be on a book tour right now and to be a
