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Book lovers united at the Loft Literary Center’s Wordplay festival in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday.

The outdoor festival featured a number of independent booksellers and a day of author-led discussions on the theme of “narrative power.”

Claire Rekow-McKee, events and partnership coordinator at the Loft, said the celebration started as a fun way to connect around books and ideas.

“A lot of the time, the way people engage with literature is very like on their own, silent…What we really wanted to do here was like bring everybody together, to engage with authors they already know or especially to learn about new people,” said Rekow-McKee.

This year’s theme developed from the Loft’s ongoing work in antiracism and was inspired by a Toni Cade Bambara quote: “The job of the writer is to make the revolution irresistible.”

The Loft is “using literature as the springboard” to explore topics like racial justice, climate change and LGBTQIA+ rights, according to Shahenda Helmy, The Loft’s director of special events.

“It's really about staying relevant and making sure that people understand that literature matters and books matter and stories matter. And they absolutely can affect the structure that we live in,” she said.

Minnesota writer David Mura said it’s important to amplify diverse, American narratives amid books bans nationwide.

“We're in a battle for the soul of the country. And we're in a battle for what we're going to teach in the schools. We're in a battle for the rights of people to speak about their own lives. And in many ways, there's been no other time like this in my lifetime,” Mura said.

The 2023 Wordplay festivities marked its first return to in-person programming since it started in 2019. This year, Wordplay also included local food trucks, youth-oriented activities like a drag story hour and a Wordle Cup Tournament.

Minneapolis resident John Solomon attended Wordplay with his 12-year-old grandson. They are both avid readers. “I feel pretty invigorated out here right now, getting into the reading and snatching some books,” Solomon said.

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The Loft Literary Center held its first in-person book festival since Wordplay’s start in 2019.

2023 Wordplay festival celebrates books, engages readers on 'narrative power'

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