Hello again!

Let's catch up! New year, who dis?!

Hello! Welcome to MUMU Stories! My name is Marianne Manzler. I’m a writer, educator, editor, and arts administrator, and this newsletter and podcast explores the unique shapes that stories take. Thanks for being here.

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.

The past year has been incredible as part of the Minnesota State Arts Board grant… time for a round up!

• April - January: Interviewing four amazing humans about their creative & entrepreneurial paths - turns out podcast editing is way more time-consuming than I’ve ever imagined, particularly with a full-time job, teaching, and writing project, but my goal is to drop these podcast episodes all at once, Beyoncé-style, and I can’t wait for you to hear their insights.

• September - December: I wrapped up a term teaching creative nonfiction at Carleton College this past fall, and I’m still floating from the experience of getting to work closely with fourteen incredible young adults as they figure out this crucial juncture of life and how creativity and hybrid storytelling forms might fit into each of their lives.

• October: The kiddos at 826MSP wrote their own unexpected odes to Netflix, their parents, home-cooking, and I’m still thinking about their reasoning for why vampires are superior to zombies. I also taught hybrid approaches to creative nonfiction with the University of Minnesota’s Art of the Medicine program with healthcare workers, residents, and doctors. We looked at examples of personal essays in JAMA and talked about story engines and how to write about ourselves at different times of life. I’m interested in continuing my research in narrative medicine and how creative writing can benefit healthcare workers, reduce burnout, and improve patient outcomes.

• Also October: I also had the opportunity to teach “I am” poems with the Walker Art Center & the Loft and hear museum goers read their works aloud in the Walker’s underground lab.

• November: Over twenty of us gathered in Uptown at Magers and Quinn to listen and read new & raw works. Watch the video here!

• December: 60 people gathered in the storied Performance Hall at Open Book to hear local young people from the Loft’s summer youth program read from their works published in the inaugural Magical Worlds, the Young Writers Program Anthology (edited & put together by yours truly).

Some highlights from the Magers and Quinn event:

• “The readers were excellent! I really enjoyed the diverse voices and perspectives. The music was lovely too. I was surprised and excited by the open mic and the end. Thanks for a great event!”

• “Hearing new work, listening to beautiful music, and getting to read my poem!”

• “So many talented writers! And the violinist performance was moving. Visiting a local bookstore for an arts event with local creatives. Nothing better. The whole thing was stunning. Thanks for putting it together, Marianne!”

According to evaluations, 77% of attendees felt inspired to discuss the topics of the event and wanted to form deeper connections with other attendees. 88% of attendees felt a stronger connection to create writing and to the Minneapolis artistic community. My biggest takeaway: more interdisciplinary events! Folks love learning something new, and they want to dig deeper into what they learned or saw with other people. We’re all looking for ways to be creative, however that may show up.

Goal for 2026: More connection! More events! More writing!

I’m also working with my agent on my manuscript proposal (!!) and hope to turn around edits to her soon! I’m making progress, slowly but surely. With everything going on, with so much uncertainty around us, I sit down to write and show up at the page anyway. It’s all I can do.

We’re excited to welcome the new year in a new city, Nashville, but I’m saving that story for another post! I plan to continue my research, writing, teaching, program management & event curation, and building community in our new home. Any leads, any friends in town, please let me know!

More doing things that scare me… and with that in mind…

Coming up:

For any fans of live storytelling (the Moth, anyone?!), I’ve returned to the Twin Cities for a 72-hour special and will be braving the mounds of snow to take the stage at New City Center on January 4 at 7pm (tonight!) with seven other storytellers to weave a tale from each of our lives on the theme of Invitation. Hosted by Alison McGhee, it’s sure to be an evening of laughter, tears, all the things that make us human.

I’m teaching a super short & super generative, one-hour creative nonfiction sampler class with the Loft on January 7 at 6 PM CT via Zoom. Want to try your hand at writing creative nonfiction? Perhaps you’d like to take a creative nonfiction class, but you’re not sure if it’s a great fit for you—or you’re not sure if taking an online writing class will be the experience you’re hoping for.

Starting on Mondays, February 2 - April 6 from 6-8 PM CT via Zoom, join me in a 10-week “Experimentation with Hybrid Memoir” class with the Loft! If you’re interested in exploring innovative story structures, shifting POV, and flash essay, then this class is for you! We will examine examples of hybrid essays by Jen Soriano, Lia Purpura, and Roxane Gay and respond to exercises that will open new pathways for expression, providing a new perspective and entry points into your nonfiction. This class is open to writers of all levels!

Hope to see you IRL or catch me online and let me know what you’ve been up to!

MM