5×5 Reading + Open Mic
This event was held on Tuesday, October 7th, at 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books, and featured five fantastic presenters: Chaun Webster, Nana J, Coley Gates, Nick Metcalf (who could not make it), and TaneshaNicole. Bea Hansen, a local poet, stepped in as a feature when Nick was unable to appear.
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 was made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Chaun Webster (he/him) is a poet and graphic designer whose work contends with the spatial, temporal, and interpretive limitations of writing to represent blackness outside of regimes of death and dying. Webster’s work has appeared in numerous journals including Obsidian, The Academy of American Poets, The Rumpus, Angel City Review, Tilted House, and Social Text. Webster is the author of Gentry!fication: or the scene of the crime (Noemi Press) and Wail Song: wading in the water at the end of the world (Black Ocean). Both books received the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry. Webster’s first collection of nonfiction, Without Terminus is forthcoming from Graywolf Press in June 2026.
Nana J (she/her) has been performing since childhood and started pursuing her own career in 2019. Writing and singing have not only been ways to process her own emotions but ways to find connection with like-minded individuals.
She has performed within many different spaces in the Cities and feels extremely blessed to be a part of the Twin Cities music scene. No matter where life takes her she will consider these moments to be the most incredible and inspiring. Spending time involved in the community is a big part of her life and she believes life is meant to be spent around art and within nature. May we each find our own way to peace and love.
Coley Gates (he/him) was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. After 25 years (of a 999-year sentence) on false charges, his sentence was commuted. He has many years of volunteer service as a Restorative Justice facilitator and mentor, and currently works at Sharing & Caring Hands Drop-In Center for adults. Coley’s two books, “Uncommon Sense: We Are Bigger Than the Box You Put Us in…” (2021) and “If My Tears Could Talk,” 2nd ed. (2025) are available to buy. Coley’s available for speaking engagements and looks for opportunities to learn, grow, and help guide young people out of street life.
Nick Metcalf (they/them) is Sicangu Oyate – Burnt Thigh People – Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Nick has lived in the Twin Cities for 30 years where they’ve made a life filled with lots of friends, family, and community. Nick is a proud Parent and Grandparent. Nick is a Poet and Writer. Nick is participating in the Loft’s 2024 year-long Poetry Apprenticeship with Heid E. Erdrich.
TaneshaNicole (they/them) is a Black, queer, non-binary poet, publishing professional, and event organizer living in the Twin Cities, MN by way of Salt Lake City, UT. They served five years as Button Poetry’s Publishing Operations Director & they are a co-founder of BuckSlam MN. Tanesha is also a co-organizer for the Midwest Poetry Mash-Up.
TaneshaNicole has represented venues in national competitions such as CUPSI, IWPS, WOWPS, NPS, and most recently, NorthBeast where they placed 4th overall with their team. Their work has appeared in Button Poetry, Write About Now, TEDx, and more.
In their spare time they can be found watching Grey’s Anatomy with their spouse Anni, bowling with the TC Pride Bowlers, or cuddling with their beloved cat, Smudge.
Erin Sharkey (she/they) is a writer, arts and abolition organizer, cultural worker, and film producer based in Minneapolis. She is the editor of A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars (Milkweed Editions ’23). Erin is a founding co-op member of the Fields at Rootsprings, a retreat and respite space in central MN, and co-founder, with Junauda Petrus, of an experimental arts collective called Free Black Dirt. She is the producer of film projects, including Small Business Revolution, which explored challenges and opportunities for Black-owned businesses in the Twin Cities in the summer of 2021. Sharkey has received fellowships and residencies from the Loft Mentor Series, VONA/Voices, the Givens Foundation, Penumbra Theatre, Coffee House Press, the Bell Museum of Natural History, Black Visions, Headwaters Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation. She has an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University and teaches with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.
Davi Gray (she/they) is a queer, trans, nonbinary poet, writer, performer, artist, producer, activist, and abolitionist. They live in Minneapolis (Bde Óta Othúŋwe), within Mni Sóta Makoce, unceded lands of the Dakota and Ojibwe. Her work has been published in Poetry, Water~Stone Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Rogue Agent, and elsewhere, and her first poetry collection, This Body, This Fruit, a finalist for the 2025 Louise Bogan Award, will be published in February 2027 by Trio House Press. She is a recipient of a 2025 Arts Experiences grant through the Minnesota State Arts Board and can often be found performing around the Twin Cities. You can learn more about her work, including upcoming events, at davigray.com.
Louise Waakaa’igan (she/her) is an enrolled member at Odaawaa-Zaaga’iganiing in northern Wisconsin. Her first chapbook, This Is Where (Aquarius Press), was published in 2020. She is also the first-place winner of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop’s Broadside Competition (2016). Louise’s work has been previously published in PEN America, 21 Mythologies, The Moon Magazine, Night Colors, 27th Letter, Words in Gray Scale, and Doors Adjacent. She is ready to publish her second collection.
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.
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.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
The ReEntry Lab is an organization working to connect writers and other artists leaving incarceration to a community that’s ready to receive them. You can learn more about its mission, volunteer to help, and sign up for the newsletter at reentrylab.org.
* 5×5 format inspired by the 555 Reads series, developed by Elizabeth R. Tannen.