Susan Marie Swanson
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susanmarieswanson.bsky.social
Susan Marie Swanson
@susanmarieswanson.bsky.social
Poet, writer. Work for children & for adults. *The House in the Night* (Caldecott Medal, Minnesota Book Award, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the 21st Century). Hiking shoes.
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
This morning I saw two bald eagles ice fishing on the Kenilworth Lagoon at Lake of the Isles. You don’t see that every day.
November 28, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Great Horned Owl
Pileated Woodpecker
Common Loon
Bald Eagle
Red Fox
(All animals I've seen in the city of St. Paul.)
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:

Deer
Fox
Red-Tailed Hawk
Bottlenose Dolphin
Muskrat
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:

A long tailed weasel

A western tiger salamander

A mountain lion (on camera outside our house, but I heard it yowl which is why I checked.)

A Chincoteague pony

An antelope
November 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
The University of Minnesota’s Superior Fruit Innovations program, famous for creating the Honeycrisp apple, has launched six new varieties of apples and grapes that it’s licensing to growers.
U of M to license new fruit varieties, including a sequel to the Honeycrisp apple
The Superior Fruit Innovations program promises access to top-performing fruits, such as the Big Flirt Apple and the LumiGlo grape.
www.mprnews.org
November 28, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Patti Smith
The Roches
Dessa
Väsen
Dreamers' Circus
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Cyndi Lauper
Brittany Howard
St. Paul and the Broken Bones
The National
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:

Prince
Erykah Badu
Olodum
Lilith Fair
Rusted Root
November 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
I absolutely love this humane & moving essay on teaching close reading by @johannawinant.bsky.social; saving it for the dark depths of semester when I need a reminder of why it all matters
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 27, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
The latest from MPR News including interviews with all three photojournalists, a response from the Mayor and no direct response to questions MPR News asked of the SPPD chief.

www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...
St. Paul Police use of force during ICE protests raises press freedom concerns
Three photojournalists hit by police munitions while covering an ICE protest Tuesday believe they were targeted by police while doing their jobs.
www.mprnews.org
November 27, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Best part of the November day: stopping in at a branch of the St. Paul Public Library. I love "my" library so much.
November 26, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
Rightwing MAGA Christianity has about as much relation to the gospels as MAGA politics does to the Constitution.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
They’re doing to America what they did to Christianity | Bill McKibben
Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent: the evangelical perversion of Jesus’s message of radical love to one of hate and aggression
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Trying to read the books piled up over here. Lately, these three. I read them all with other people (one with a group, one with a class, one with a partner) because that's helpful to me in these days of how-can-I-possibly-concentrate.
November 22, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
get a bigger imagination
November 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
there are all kinds of tiny actions, both activist and artistic, that go unseen or are purposely modest or have a narrow circumference and that does not change what they are and what effects they can have. effect is not a measure of volume. it is a measure of density
November 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Well, considering how the tears streamed down my cheeks when I was listening to Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 3 on my laptop just now (for the first time), I'd better bring a packet of kleenex when I go to hear the Danish String Quartet play it on Sunday.
November 21, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
It’s been almost 48 hours and we still don’t know with certainty how many people were detained on Tuesday, the grounds (if any) on which they’re being held, or what will happen next for these members of our community—all of whom have families and friends and people who love them.

This isn’t normal.
November 20, 2025 at 1:05 PM
She Has Taken 30 Years to Write a 7-Part Novel About 1 Day. It’s a Sensation.
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
I am devastated that this happened today. I don’t want to live in a country where the federal government is a threat to our community. And I am committed to working every day to build a better world for the people of Saint Paul.
November 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
Today, our community experienced what too many across the country have been forced to endure in recent months. Federal agents from multiple law enforcement agencies, including ICE, came into our neighborhood and have detained and arrested multiple individuals.
Immigration Resources
Though the City Attorney’s Office does not represent or provide legal guidance to residents, we have compiled a list of community partners and other resources that may help during the immigration proc...
stpaul.gov
November 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Gift link to Star Tribune article from Louis Krauss and
Josie Albertson-Grove:
November 18, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
An absolute powerhouse of a @propublica.org team has done what U.S. officials refuse to do: identify the men and women swept up in that midnight raid in Chicago. Life in the building was not perfect, but reporters found little evidence to back up government claims: www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 13, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
These emails are horrifying.
November 12, 2025 at 11:59 PM
The Dyani White Hawk exhibit at Walker Art Center is warm and welcoming--a good activity for a November day. I am looking forward to going back several times while it is up at the museum. (More information about the exhibit in the thread with this post.)
November 7, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Hey MSP, head over to the Walker Art Center to see the beautiful, welcoming exhibition of work by Dyani White Hawk! Admission to the museum is free on Thursday evenings.
walkerart.org/calendar/202...
November 6, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
Kaohly Her will be the first Hmong mayor of St. Paul. We asked her how she wants people to pronounce her name.
November 5, 2025 at 9:37 PM
This.
Good vibes only for Saint Paul today.

1. We're still not Minneapolis
2. We have a good foundation for a turn around
3. Our new mayor is a historic pick
4. Her is going to leverage her connections in the State legislature so maybe they pay attention to DT finally
5. Melvin, a good man, will be ok
November 5, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I see folks commenting that they want to know more about St. Paul's mayor-elect, Kaohly Her. Here's a gift link to a profile of State Rep Her that the Star Tribune ran before the election.
Kaohly Her is ‘relentless’ and un-flashy. She says that’s exactly what St. Paul needs.
Why Mayor Melvin Carter’s former policy director and mayoral opponent is challenging her old boss.
www.startribune.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Susan Marie Swanson
I beg everyone to not start making jokes about how dem establishment will fumble this.

Not tonight.

We can win.That’s the story. Let it in. We can fight for us and each other and we can win.
November 5, 2025 at 2:56 AM