Vigil is a poetry collection shaped by northern Michigan, memory, sorrow, humor, longing, and the natural world. It is also a book about survival. Not survival in the shiny, triumphant sense, but the real kind. The kind that asks how we keep going after loss, how we live with what…
I write across genres-—cozy mysteries, dark fantasy, and transformative nonfiction-—and each one asks for a different hat. The tools I reach for, the structure I use, and the way I access ideas change depending on the bookkeeping each genre requires. Below I share practical methods I use to capture ideas,…
Click on the “triangle” below to playback the audio interview with Terri Martin! https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/caxw6k8yght7b3g2/audio1664705519.m4a Straw Horse is the second novel in the Kat Wilde Mystery Series. It follows Kat, a practical but vulnerable woman who has inherited a defunct horse stable and is trying to turn it into a viable,…
Modern History Press is thrilled with the release of its latest title Douglass Houghton: Michigan’s Pioneer Geologist, Doctor, and Teacher by award-winning Upper Peninsula author Deborah K. Frontiera, with illustrations by Joanna Walitalo. In the Victorian times, it was customary for a gentleman to wear a hat. One man in…
Cady and the Search for Family Ann Dallman Modern History Press (2025) ISBN: 979-8896560241 Reviewed by Susan Violante for Reader Views (12/2025) “Cady and the Search for Family” by Ann Dallman is the 3rd book of the A Cady Whirlwind Thunder Mystery series, and I worried about reading it without having read…
Sparks of the Revolution: Rediscovering Pre‑Revolutionary Boston and the Gift of Democracy Click on the triangle icon below to listen to the Todd Otis interview https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/download/umandhayc4q4rhnr/audio1191547545.m4a Why I wrote this book My last name is Otis. Growing up, I heard family stories about James Otis, the Patriot. When I…
Garden Sleeping, Garden Growing: A Year-Long Love Letter to Natural Gardening Click on the triangle below to listen to the interview! https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/5sxgy8jz5zwsn953/audio1100129782.m4a I wrote Garden Sleeping, Garden Growing as a book that speaks from the garden’s point of view. Each spread represents a month of the year, and a…
Click on triangle below to start listening –AND– scroll down to read the transcript https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/pudrwjquq6n88mdj/audio1315549325.m4a “Deaf and rejected, Luczak longs for visibility among those who erase him: class bullies, teachers, and even his mother, who goes to the grave unable to accept her gay son. I found myself rereading Ironhood,…
Emma Palova interviews Suzanne Sunshower Click on the triangle below to start listening https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/pudrwjquq6n88mdj/audio1315549325.m4a At sixty, after a string of losses and a lifetime of making art and words, I did the impulsive, crazy thing: I moved into a 50-year-old hunting camper tucked away in the Michigan woods. I call…
(November 8, 2025) Michigan’s Upper Peninsula holds the treasure of nature where the poet’s soul can live with life in its pure and unadulterated form. Poet and artist Suzanne Sunshower moved to these north woods from downstate so she could observe and embrace this mode of living. Her first solo poetry…
(October 20, 2025) Nature, memories, emotions, loss, and healing all meet with grace and honesty in the subliminal place in Ellen Lord’s new poetry book Vigil published by the Modern History Press of Ann Arbor, MI. Illustrated by artist Joanna Walitalo (Pelkie, MI), Vigil includes over 40 poems divided into four sections: “Desire,” “Thin Space,”…
Piracy on the Great Lakes — Mikel B. Classen (Mathieu | Project #1) In a recent interview on the Mathieu | Project channel I talked about a subject that has fascinated me for decades: Piracy on the Great Lakes: True Tales of Freshwater Pirates. As an author, historian, journalist and…
For Immediate Release… Raymond Luczak’s New Poetry Book “Ironhood” Commemorates Growing Up in Ironwood, Michigan “This book sees all. Not everything, but all. There’s a difference.” –John Lee Clark, author of How to Communicate (Oct. 9, 2025) —Modern History Press proudly announces the release of Ironhood by acclaimed poet, playwright, and author Raymond Luczak….
I’m Kathleen Heideman, a writer, artist, and environmentalist working in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Recently I joined Emma Palova on the For the Love of Books podcast to talk about my new poetry collection, The Caving Grounds, and the long, strange labors that went into writing this book. Below I summarize…
Piracy on the Great Lakes: True Tales of Freshwater Pirates For over forty years, writer and photographer Michael Classen has immersed himself in the rich history and culture of Northern Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP). His latest work, Piracy on the Great Lakes: True Tales of Freshwater Pirates, uncovers the…
Wild Blueberry Summer: Embracing the Rhythms and Wonders of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Click on the triangle below to play https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/zy4s77hend2v72ni/audio1695120158.m4a As the summer solstice ushers in the longest day of the year, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the beauty and spirit of the seasons. For those who cherish…
https://d3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net/staging/2025-2-5/bdd031da-58e0-9f89-53a4-1af4d4986b41.mp3 Click on the “triangle” at above left to hear the Larry Jorgensen interview with Larry Flynn Make It Go in the Snow: The Fascinating History of Snowmobiles and Snow Vehicles Snowmobiling is more than just a winter pastime—it’s a story of innovation, adventure, and the passion of countless enthusiasts…
Modern History Press is most pleased to announce the two writers chosen for this year’s Yooper Poetry Series 2025-2026. Suzanne Sunshower’s book Still Wild will appear sometime in the fall of 2025. Suzanne Sunshower is a writer/artist and ardent adventurer originally from Detroit. When not exploring, she has worked with…
(ISHPEMING, MI) Nearly a century ago, a historic tragedy struck the small mining town of Ishpeming in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when the Barnes-Hecker mine collapsed, claiming the lives of 51 men. It was the worst mining disaster in Michigan history and the deadliest iron ore mine disaster in the history…
by Ernest Dempsey For the well-known novelist Sue Harrison of Pickford, Michigan, this summer translates into book bliss. Between the final week of May and mid-September, Harrison is scheduled to tour eight libraries and a learning center in various towns in the Upper Peninsula region to participate in workshops, book…