Mission

Saint Paul Almanac is a literary-centered arts organization. We tell and share stories across cultures and cultivate dialogue to promote understanding, relationships, and collaborative action.

Values

STORYTELLING: We connect people to one another through sharing stories.

MENTORING: We support authentic intergenerational and intercultural learning between youth, elders, emerging and established artists and writers.

EQUITY: We facilitate opportunities for the voices of all people to be heard and to shape the communities in which we live.

IMPACT: We believe integrating the arts into all of our daily lives creates more productive, connected, informed, just, and livable communities.

WORK: We recognize artists as workers and we create opportunities for artists, including paying for the contributions of local writers and artists.

Vision

A world of equitable communities made strong through literature and the arts.

Practices and Principles

  1. Recognizing and mobilizing community assets;
  2. Connecting across cultures;
  3. Facilitating collaborative action;
  4. Continuously learning and improving;
  5. Being accountable

(Practices and Principles adopted from Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up by Paul Schmitz)

What We Do

Our mission is primarily accomplished through collaborative decision making in publication activities, readings, and mentorships that develop, amplify, and honor local voices.

Publishing and Exhibition

  • We publish the annual Saint Paul Almanac compendium filled with stories, poems, and artwork related to the city. Five-time award-winning—now in its eleventh edition.
  • We launched Storymobile in June 2014 and Storymobile 2.0 in June 2016. Residents write, film, and speak their stories with help from professional writers.
  • Our new 2019 project, Poetry in the Park in the Dark, publishes poetry and art in solar-powered rocks that light up at night when you walk by them.
  • Our IMPRESSIONS project published poetry combined with art on the Green Line and on buses.
  • We publish chapbooks and trade paperbacks (Ramsey County Corrections, Vision Loss Resource Center) for organizations to celebrate their work.

Performance

  • We host our “Almanac Literary Festival” where Almanac authors read their work.

Education

  • Community editor project—approximately 20 community editors of many ages and ethnicities choose what goes into the Almanac and learn writing and publishing skills.
  • Writing workshops in schools, jails, libraries, and other local organizations.