The “Poets of Place” project will share their poems and new chapbook on Thursday, August 28 at Marine Village Hall during Arrow Broken Poetry Collective’s monthly poetry reading and open mic night.

In August, Arrow Broken’s last-Thursday-of-the-month poetry event will feature the five St. Croix Valley poets featured in “Poets of Place” and the launch of their new chapbook. The free chapbook features 10 poems, two from each of the participating poets: MP Flandrick, Daniel Kilkelly, Adam Pieri-Johnson, Kate Seitz and Aaron Sparby.

“Poets of Place” is similar to a poet laureate program. It seeks to be representative of the rich and diverse cultures of poetry in the region. Each year, ArtReach St. Croix works with library partners to present programs around a common book. In 2022, we presented An American Sunrise by Muscogee Nation writer and U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo who said,

“America has a broken heart and poetry can help heal it.”

2025 Poets of Place

• MP Flandrick is a longtime Minnesota resident and community organizer. Earning a BA in Creative Writing and Teaching License from Macalester College, MP went on to co-found the Women Poets of the Twin Cities (1970), worked as a teacher, in outreach and as a drug/alcohol counselor. Now a Stillwater resident, MP is an ambassador for poetry every day seeking to connect everyone with its beauty, relevance and joy. 
• Daniel Kilkelly is a Youth Services Librarian with a BA in Literature – Creative Writing who is now pursuing his Masters in Library and Information Science. He has had poetry published in Digital Americana and aspires to publish novels someday. Daniel is a Stillwater resident.
• Adam Pieri-Johnson grew up in Minnesota and has lived in the St. Croix Valley for the last 20 years, currently in Osceola. Adam love the simplicity of the poetic form and the complexity of capturing the essence of it in few words.
• Kate Seitz is a poet, creative communicator, and community builder. She is a co-founder of Arrow Broken Poetry Collective with Rosie Peters and Suzi Hudson. Kate has a BA in English & Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A May Township resident, Kate has spent years quietly writing poems only for herself, until now.
• Aaron Sparby is a teacher, poet and current Stillwater resident. Earning BA in History from Carleton College and Masters in teaching from University of Chicago. Aaron has worked as a political organizer, interpretive naturalist in the Boundary Waters and as an elementary and middle school teacher.

The Arrow Broken Poetry Event and Open Mic featuring “Poets of Place,” will take place at Marine Village Hall (121 Judd St, Marine on St Croix, MN) on Thursday, August 28 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. This event and the chapbook are free.

Poets of Place and 2025 season of ArtReach St. Croix’s Mobile Art Gallery was supported by St. Croix Foundation, the RBC Foundation and Sunrise Rotary. This activity is also made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant to ArtReach St. Croix from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.