Minneapolis Writers Workshop Records

The Minneapolis Writers Workshop was a byproduct of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program. One of the programs formulated by Harold Ickes, Director of the WPA, was to write guidebooks for each of the 48 states in the Union. To accomplish this, the Minnesota office was instructed to hire 120 writers from the state relief rolls. Only one published author was found, Meridel LeSeur, plus one poet and two reporters. The others hired were people whose connection to the written word was tenuous: a typist from the newspaper, an English teacher, a classified ad seller, and 50 recently graduated English majors.

At the same time, unemployed teachers were hired by another arm of the WPA to teach writing. Many of the newly hired "writers" were inspired to take these writing classes which were taught at the Minneapolis Public Library. The students asked if one of the classes could be organized into a workshop. That workshop continued on as the Minnesota Writers Workshop even after WPA funds were discontinued in 1939.

The club initially met weekly at the Minneapolis Public Library or the 620 Club on Hennepin Avenue. Its members included a variety of writers, journalists, and academics from the Twin Cities area. Its members published work ranging from science fiction and romance novels to historical non-fiction and magazine articles. In 1972 the club was formally incorporated. Later meetings were held at the Minnesota Press Club and the Regency Plaza Hotel; and as of 2012, they were being held at the Black Forest Inn.