Washington County Library welcomes author Mona Susan Power on Tuesday, January 28, at 6:30 p.m. as part of WashCoLib's 2025 Write in Our Midst author series. Virtually via Microsoft Teams, Mona Susan Power will be discussing her work. There will be time reserved for questions.

Mona Susan Power is the author of four books of fiction, including:

• The Grass Dancer, a national bestseller awarded a PEN/Hemingway Prize.
• Roofwalker, a collection of stories and essays awarded the Milkweed National Fiction Prize.
• Sacred Wilderness, a novel that received the Electa Quinney Award.
• A Council of Dolls, winner of the Minnesota Book Award and High Plains Book Award, longlisted for the National Book Award and the Carol Shields Prize.

She's a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is also the recipient of several grants supporting her writing, including an Iowa Arts Fellowship, James Michener Fellowship, Radcliffe Bunting Institute Fellowship, Princeton Hodder Fellowship, USA Artists Fellowship, McKnight Fellowship, and Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship. Her short stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories series, The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, The Missouri Review, Ploughshares, and Granta. 

Mona is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta), born and raised in Chicago. During her childhood she was a member of the Chicago Indian Village movement, a group organized to protest the conditions of Native people lured to urban areas with promises of secure jobs and good housing, that seldom materialized. In 1979, a documentary following the experiences of this group was nominated for an Academy Award. Mona attended the Oscar ceremonies that year as a guest of the director, Jerry Aronson. 

She lives in Minnesota, working on other novels, including The Year of Fury. 

All are welcome to join this free program.

Registration is necessary to join this virtual program.

This program is funded with money from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.