The beauty of the St. Croix River Valley watershed has inspired many writers and artists who share their love of the region through poetry, art, travel, photography, and stories. The following are some of those resources.
River of Refuge: Essays & Poetry
Greg Seitz
The St. Croix River offers solitude and solace, scenery and diverse species, and sunshine and sand. The year 2020 made those qualities even more valuable. This collection of essays and scattering poems, published on St. Croix 360 from winter through late fall, follows adventures on the water and on the bluffs, tracing the year’s uncertain arc. The stories are found on foot, paddling a canoe or kayak, and by boat.
St. Croix & Namekagon Rivers, The Enduring Gift
Walter F. Mondale, Craig Blacklock
A landmark, award-winning photography book and video celebrating the beauty of the St. Croix & Namekagon Rivers, with an introduction by Vice President Walter F. Mondale. Signed and numbered edition of 5,000. Winner of 7 major book awards. 277 color photographs by Craig Blacklock. 24 pages of inspiring quotes, poems and song lyrics on contrasting paper.
An Hour from Now
Laurie Allmann
This collection of poems, steeped in field biology and the environmental sciences, offers intimate glimpses of a natural world that has its own integrity and value apart from our comprehension of it. The author asks questions while avoiding the rhapsodizing that nature can elicit. Yet the rapport between observer and observed is unmistakable, not only in the empathetic cross-species portrayals but also in the music of the words themselves.
We Are at Home: Pictures of the Ojibwe People
Bruce White
In this collection of stunning and storied photographs, historian Bruce White explores historical images taken of Ojibwe people through 1950. This rich record of Native history and culture is available through a quirk of history: white settlement of Minnesota coincided with the development of photographic processes that allowed photographers to capture images of local people and scenes.
