Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology

Edited by Frank Bures
May 7, 2019

Part of Belt’s City Anthology Series. "The ultimate (literary) tour guide to the neighborhoods and wild places, history and politics, culture and cuisine, music and myths of the Twin Cities, a place I only thought I knew.”—Benjamin Percy 

In recent years, Minneapolis has become one of America’s literary powerhouses. With over fifty poems and essays, Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology collects some of the most exciting work being done in, or about, Minneapolis and the Twin Cities area, with narrative threads that stretch back not just to Scandinavia, but across the world.

Edited by Frank Bures (The Geography of Madness), the writers included here have won, or been shortlisted for, the Newbery Award, the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer, the Caldecott Award, the National Book Award, the Minnesota Book Award, and many others. The wide-ranging stories included here include:

• A tour through Prince’s Minneapolis
• The story of the Metrodome’s demolition
• A story of a Somali immigrant’s journey to Eden Prairie
• Eating Halva on Lake Street

Contributors include James Wright, Kelly Barnhill, Marlon James, Kao Kalia Yang, Michael Perry, Bao Phi, Danez Smith, Shannon Gibney and many more, alongside new and first-time writers.

A wonderful, literary portrait of the City of Lakes and the myriad ways it’s changed in recent years.

Praise for Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology:

“In nearly every piece, I almost couldn't help feeling a little Geiger-like clicking yes! as the city I know and love was described anew, over and over, in ways I've never seen articulated.” -- Minneapolis StarTribune

"Minneapolis is known for its surfeit of excellent writers, so it’s not surprising that a collection of writing about the city by the writers who know it best would turn out to be a reader’s delight. ... For one varied, top-notch taste of that literary splendor, don’t miss reading Under Purple Skies." -- Lynette Lamb, Minnesota Alumni

"Minneapolis gets the star treatment in the latest installment of Belt Publishing's City Anthologies series. The collection features contributions from an impressive list of current-award winning authors, nearly all of whom have either lived in or worked in the city. ... Collectively, the writers paint a thorough and sometimes amusing picture of our state and the people in it." -- Minneapolis StarTribune

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Frank Bures is the author of The Geography of Madness: Penis Thieves, and Voodoo Death and the Search for the Meaning of the World’s Strangest Syndromes." He writes about travel, culture, language, science, outdoors, narrative and belief.

See also: 

City Anthology Bundle