Moon Palace Books

09/23/2026

Najeeba Syeed (she/her) - Najeeba’s first book of poetry Dreaming Lost Bodies Back was released a few months ago. She writes about lineages of loss and resilience. She is a professor of religion here in Minneapolis.

🎤

Please join us on Tuesday, October 6th, at 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books, for our next 5×5 Reading, featuring five fantastic artists: Bridget Gordon, Wordsworth Musinguzi, Marquise Bowie, KJ Kieras, and Najeeba Syeed, followed by an open mic.

Both reading and open mic will feature ASL interpretation.

Light refreshments will be served; masks are encouraged at Moon Palace Books and are available on-site. This is a free event.

Better Things is a series of events sponsored by the ReEntry Lab, in partnership with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW) and Moon Palace Books. The ReEntry Lab is an organization working to connect writers and other artists leaving incarceration to a community that’s ready to receive them.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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09/23/2026

09/21/2026

KJ Kieras (they/them) is a writer and performer currently based in Minneapolis. They have performed slam poetry across the nation and are a three-time Midwest Poetry Mashup winner. Their work can be found in BeaverMag, Button Poetry, 45th Parallel, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal. They have been a Sundress Academy for the Arts resident and are a Brett Elizabeth Jenkins Poetry Prize Finalist. When not writing, they perform drag across the twin cities as the only le***an in Minneapolis, Lucy Goosey. They proudly co-produce Minneapolis’ fiercest drag and poetry show, Debasement.

🎤

Please join us on Tuesday, October 6th, at 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books, for our next 5×5 Reading, featuring five fantastic artists: Bridget Gordon, Wordsworth Musinguzi, Marquise Bowie, KJ Kieras, and Najeeba Syeed, followed by an open mic.

Both reading and open mic will feature ASL interpretation.

Light refreshments will be served; masks are encouraged at Moon Palace Books and are available on-site. This is a free event.

Better Things is a series of events sponsored by the ReEntry Lab, in partnership with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW) and Moon Palace Books. The ReEntry Lab is an organization working to connect writers and other artists leaving incarceration to a community that’s ready to receive them.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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09/20/2026

Marquise Bowie (he/him). Born and raised on the South Side of MPLS, MN. Son of the Most High. Father of two daughters Marquissa (26) Marquia (18). Grandfather of Makayla (2). Husband of Treva Bowie. Bonus kids Treionne, Isaiah, Mimi, Jeremiah, Xion and dog Angel. Deacon, Author, Ambassador, Mentor, Cofounder of the MN Agape movement. “Transforming street energy into community energy and putting the neighbor back into the hood”.
South side we outside!

09/17/2026

Bridget Gordon (she/her, fae/faer) is a q***r trans woman and emerging poet living in Chicago. A former MFA student and sports journalist, her current work with poetry and short-form writing is enraptured with q***r longing, identity, and liminality. She has past or forthcoming publications in Moist Poetry Journal, TRANS MAG, Pink Poetry Club, Coin-Operated Press, and Red Rock Review. Fae is the author of the self-published chapbook, the rest is up to you, love, released in Summer 2026. Her debut full-length poetry collection, if you know the color of their eyes it’s already too late, will be published by Raging Opossum Press in Fall 2026. Fae lives with her husband, metamour, cats, a blue electric guitar named Evie, and an ominously large TBR pile.

🎤

Please join us on Tuesday, October 6th, at 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books, for our next 5×5 Reading, featuring five fantastic artists: Bridget Gordon, Wordsworth Musinguzi, Marquise Bowie, KJ Kieras, and Najeeba Syeed, followed by an open mic.

Both reading and open mic will feature ASL interpretation.

Light refreshments will be served; masks are encouraged at Moon Palace Books and are available on-site. This is a free event.

Better Things is a series of events sponsored by the ReEntry Lab, in partnership with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW) and Moon Palace Books. The ReEntry Lab is an organization working to connect writers and other artists leaving incarceration to a community that’s ready to receive them.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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09/17/2026

Wordsworth Prescott Musinguzi (b. 1991, he/him) is a Trans first-generation Ugandan-Liberian American documentary photographer and multidisciplinary artist based in Minneapolis, MN. A former music photojournalist and lifestyle blogger, his practice documents and archives intergenerational social movements and subcultures through portraits, books, zines, and exhibitions. Combining traditional and experimental approaches to image-making and publishing, his practice is rooted in redefining what is legible, can be seen and understood by everyday people that feel distant or obscure in proximity. His work is held by Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, UNC Chapel Hill, Cooper Hewitt, and Ohio University. He is a recipient of grants and fellowships from Forecast Public Art, ICP, MRAC, Yale University, and the Emerging Curators Institute.

🎤

Please join us on Tuesday, October 6th, at 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books, for our next 5×5 Reading, featuring five fantastic artists: Bridget Gordon, Wordsworth Musinguzi, Marquise Bowie, KJ Kieras, and Najeeba Syeed, followed by an open mic.

Both reading and open mic will feature ASL interpretation.

Light refreshments will be served; masks are encouraged at Moon Palace Books and are available on-site. This is a free event.

Better Things is a series of events sponsored by the ReEntry Lab, in partnership with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW) and Moon Palace Books. The ReEntry Lab is an organization working to connect writers and other artists leaving incarceration to a community that’s ready to receive them.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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09/15/2026

09/15/2026