Sirens, Suckers, and Sweden

Sally Franson is the author of the novels BIG IN SWEDEN, a Twin Cities Live! Book Club pick, and A LADY’S GUIDE TO SELLING OUT. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, Best American Travel Writing, and on NPR, among many other places. She was a 2022 cast member of Allt för Sverige, a reality TV show in Sweden about finding your roots. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.

Daniel Hornsby is the author of Via Negativa (Knopf) and Sucker (Anchor). He holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan, and an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School. His stories and essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, The Quietus, The Missouri Review, Epoch, and Joyland. As a musician playing under the name True Green, his album My Lost Decade was named an Essential Release by Bandcamp, and his songs have been played on The Current, Triple J, and Tom Scharpling’s The Best Show.

Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl is the author of the novel on submission ANOTHER TRIUMPH, the memoir-ish anthology THE ESSENTIAL DEAR DARA, and the wine guide DRINK THIS, WINE MADE SIMPLE. Her work has appeared in the Best American Unpublished Short Stories as well as seven editions of the Best American Food Writing, she has appeared on Chef’s Table on Netflix, MPR, NPR, and her nonfiction has appeared in Gourmet, Saveur, Food & Wine, and every edition of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine since March 2012, for that is where she is a staff writer. She has six James Beard Awards and has been nominated 16 times. She lives with a dog the size of a cat and a cat who is also the size of a cat, and her two children, in south Minneapolis, and she keeps in touch with her audience at deardara.com.

Antonia Angress is the author of the novel Sirens & Muses, which was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award and was named a Best Book of the Year by Glamour Magazine. She is a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, a 2024 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow, and a 2024 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grantee. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Brown University and an MFA in Fiction from the University of Minnesota. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Costa Rica, she lives in Minneapolis with her family.

Antonia Angress is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.