about Tracy

Tracy Rittmueller: poet/writer, educator/teaching artist, cultural producer

"Mary Oliver wrote a poem called 'Blue Iris' which is really about the wind that 'breaks open, releasing distillation of blue iris.' Tracy is like Mary Oliver's wind, breaking us open, releasing us so we're free to be ourselves." -- Kate M., central MN Duties of the Spirit workshop participant, 2022.

Presentations, Readings & Workshops

Find Your Voice: Creative Writing Workshop for Grades 7-12, as Writer-in-Residence for Great River Regional Library Summer Read Program, August, 2023.The Poetry of Transformation: Healing Writing Practices, as Writer-in-Residence in support of Trauma-Informed Church at First United Methodist Church, Sartell, MN. February - April, 2023. Winter Party with Paints and Poems: Great River Regional Library, St. Cloud, March 7, 2023. An intercultural, intergenerational community celebration. Party with Paints and Poems: Art in Motion on the Lake Wobegon Train, Holdingford, MN, for young people grades K-8 & their parents/guardians/adult friends, July 10, 24 & August 3, 2022. Duties of the Spirit--Joy, Serenity, and Grief: Practices in Creative Expression: Whitney Senior Center, Saint Cloud MN, 6-session workshop for elder women, January-July, 2022. Healing After Loss and Grief: Practices in Creative Expression: Whitney Senior Center, Saint Cloud MN, 6-session workshop for members, Summer 2021. Shout in the Wind Poetry Day: cohost with Art in Motion on the Lake Wobegon Trail, Holdingford MN, May 16, 2021. Moderator of an Evening with Louise K. Waakaa'igan: with guest poets Heid E. Erdrich, Su Hwang, and Paige Riehl, for Lyricality in collaboration with Great River Regional Library, Saint Cloud MN, April 8, 2021. Collaborative Communal Poetry Workshop: English language class for adult Somali Immigrants to the United States, La Cruz Community Center, Saint Cloud, MN, January 2021. Moderator of an Evening with Su Hwang:  for Lyricality in collaboration with Great River Regional Library, Saint Cloud MN, Oct 28, 2020. The Poetry of Transformation: Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph MN, Spiritual Directors’ Inservice Presentation, October 2019. Creative Process and a Book of Transformations: Saint Benedict’s Monastery, Presentation to Studium Scholars and guests, February, 2019. Monthly Communal Collaborative Poetry Workshops, Warwick RI, Developer/Instructor, October 2014-December 2015. Poetry Month Celebration, The Elephant Tea Room, Warwick RI, Organizer/Reader April, 2015. Memoir Writing Workshop: Plot your Story, Warwick Senior Center, RI, Instructor, March, 2014. Linebaugh Public Library, TN, Instructor, November, 2012. Newbury Harbor’s Poetry w/ Patricia Fargnoli (NH Poet Laureate) & Friends, Reader April, 2008. Northfield Arts Guild Young Peoples’ Theater Workshop: Playwright and Instructor, July 12-31, 1992; June 6-25 & July 25-August 13, 1993. New Prague Middle School Poetry Performance Workshop: Curriculum, Instructor and Production Director, July 11-23, 1993. Faribault High School Creative Writing 15-day Seminar: Visiting Poet/Instructor, April, 1993; November, 1994. St. Olaf College: Women Poets, Reader, October, 1992. Augsburg College: Celebrating Women in the Arts, Featured Poet/Reader, May, 1992. Northfield Arts Guild Presents MN Poets, Reader, November, 1991

Publications

Articles, Essays: “How St. Scholastica disempowered confirmation bias” in Spirit Life Jan/Feb 2021; “Therefore Create Silence” in Benedictines, Fall 2020; Interview on “Therefore Create Silence” in Call: Celebrating Commitment to Monastic Life, Fall 2020; "Made from the Heart" profile of Bud Larsen, Hardanger fiddle maker Lake Country Journal (LCJ) Dec-Jan 2019-2020; Community Development Profile of Crosby, MN "The Starfish Effect" LCJ Aug-Sep 2019; Author Profile: "Susan Schaefer Davis" LCJ April-May 2019; "Japanese-Inspired Lake Home Represents the Marriage of Two Diverse Cultures" LCJ, Feb-Mar 2019); "World Traveling Chef Peter Lowe Comes Home to Aitkin" LCJ, Dec-Jan 2018-19; "Green Fair Folk Festival Plants hope for the future" Lake Country Journal (LCJ), Aug-Sep 2018;  Freelance Arts and Culture Reporter for The Newsleaders of Sartell and St. Joseph, 2016-2020; "Making Fine Furniture: You Can Do It!" NHTD, Feb 2009; "Franconia and Sugar Hill: You're Going to Love it There!" NHTD, July 2008; "Through the Eyes of an Artist: Your New View of the World" (Profile of artist Sissi Shattuck) in New Hampshire ToDo (NHTD), Nov 2007.

My Interviews with central MN Poets & Songwriters in The Lyricality Way: Adam Hammer; Delores Dufner; Karl Johnson; Mara Faulkner; Brendan D. King; Juliana Howard; Bill Meissner; Abdi Mahad. Interview with beloved poet/humorist Mike Finley (1950-2020), self-described "King of St. Paul Poets."

Poems: Rag Mag, Sidewalks, Ophelia’s Pale Lilies, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily. Poetry Chapbook: Relearning the Lullaby (Heywood Press, 1995). Still Life, Broken and Repaired. (Lyricality Press, 2023).

Books: written or edited under my former pseudonym, Tracy Lee Karner, Toward Daylight, becoming a writer despite everythingThursdays at 2John Hope Settlement HouseWithout Mom, With Spina Bifida. You can read about why I used, and then stopped using, a pseudonym in this blog post–Trashing My Brand.

Honors

Minnesota State Arts Board FY2023 Creative Support for Individuals Award to develop workshops  to engage older adults living with dementia in creative writing processes, in two formats for two audiences: in person for people living in care facilities, and online for unpaid dementia family caregivers. McKnight Foundation Award for publication expenses, promotion and marketing of Still Life, Broken and Repaired  through an Artist's Career Development Grant from Central Minnesota Arts Board, December 2021. McKnight Foundation 2022 Individual Artist Award for Poetry through Central Minnesota Arts Board. Project Grant from Central Minnesota Arts Board, with funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from its general fund, to produce, script and direct a literary performance and discussion called: “There's a Poem In This Place (in memory of Charles Wm. Preble, 1936-2021). June 23, 2022. McKnight Foundation Award for developmental editing of a memoir-essay manuscript, Duties of the Spirit, with mentor Richard Gilbert, through an Artist's Learning Grant from Central Minnesota Arts Board, December 2021. McKnight Foundation Award to increase print and social media presence while researching and writing a book proposal, through Artist Career Development Grant from Central Minnesota Arts Board, October 2020. 1st Place, American Benedictine Academy Monastic Essay Contest 2020, for “Therefore Create Silence.” McKnight Foundation Award to complete a book-length creative nonfiction manuscript, through Artist Career Development Grant from Central Minnesota Arts Board, November 2018. Pushcart Prize Nomination in Poetry for Sonnet to Negotiate Peace with Your Dementia, November 2017. The Loft/Jerome Foundation Emerging Writers’ Award: Honorable Mention, August 2017. Maxine Kumin’s Advanced Poetry Workshop, Warner, NH, March, 2007 — of 56 New England applicants, Kumin selected 12 poets to participate. I treasure the connections I made with those gifted poets, and with Maxine. Dean Buchta Merit Scholarship, University of Minnesota, 1992. Split Rock Arts Program Tuition Merit Award for Poetry, 1992.

Education

Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with a Creative Writing Emphasis, University of Minnesota, Program for Individualized Learning (PIL)

MFA-LEVEL INDEPENDENT STUDY 

  • 2006-07 Monthly mentoring in poetry writing, 2 years with Patricia Fargnoli, the 2006-2009 Poet Laureate of New Hampshire 
  • 2006 Memoir writing workshop with Mimi Schwartz, award-winning author, educator, and public speaker, faculty member of Richard Stockton University’s writing program from 1980-2005
  • 2007 Poetry Workshop with Maxine Kumin, the 1981–1982 poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (now called U.S. Poet Laureate)
  • 2006-2008 Writing Feedback from group convened and hosted by Mimi Schwartz with Alice B. Fogel, the 2014-2019 Poet Laureate of New Hampshire; Edith Milton, author of 2006 New Hampshire Literary Award winner  The Tiger in the Attic: Memories of the Kindertransport and Growing Up English; and Sandell Morse, author of the New Hampshire Literary Award Finalist memoir The Spiral Shell: A French Village Reveals Its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II 
  • 2022 Developmental Editing Mentorship to complete a book-length collection of essays with Richard Gilbert, author of  Shepherd: A Memoir. Richard teaches essay writing and literary studies at Radford University, Virginia, and memoir workshops at Virginia Tech’s Lifelong Learning Institute. Supported by CMAB Artist Learning Grant
  • CMAB Teaching Artist Roster Program Cohort Member, 2022

Languages

English, German