Carolyn Holbrook – författare

This is a true life, non-fiction story of my choking dream and hearing a loud voice which woke me up from that horrible dream; only to find myself choking in real life. Did that "wake up call" save my life?

Who advises politicians about the issues that impact our daily lives, and how has their advice changed over time?In Australia Fair? authors James Walter and Carolyn Holbrook explore the world of departmental officials and political advisers who wield significant influence in shaping our society and assess how policy advice has changed since World War II. How has the relationship between our elected representatives and bureaucrats evolved? Have they delivered what the people want? What has been learned, and what forgotten?Focusing on three foundational policy domains - immigration, Indigenous affairs and housing - Australia Fair? reveals how social change, ideological differences and power dynamics have transformed Australia's political landscape and society.Provocative and important, Australia Fair? challenges us to reckon with a new era of policy innovation, to debate how we want to be governed and to choose what kind of society we want to be.

This story is about obeying your mom, staying safe and the importance of friendship among woodland creatures.

This is a short story about a woman who is in a horribly abusive relationship. Her husband is manipulative, and controlling, and has threatened to harm her if she ever tries to leave him, and when all hope seems lost, there is a fantastic rescue, causing her to become what nature truly intended her to be.

This is a humorous micro fiction story about an unlikely partnership in which a human has asked a ghost to show him the ropes in the area of sex, but by allowing the ghost to enter him, he has unleashed an entity that doesn''t understand the meaning of safe sex.

This is a short flash fiction story about a happily married couple who take a ride on the now antique carousel on which John originally proposed to his wife, Marta, in 1935, which is now housed in a museum. They made a vow at that time to love each other FOREVER.

This a short flash fiction story of a woman who has all she can take from her abusive husband. She resolves that she has cried her final tear as she faces her abuser.

This is a short story of a distressed teen, deep into heroin addiction, who prays to be saved. She overdoses and finds herself dropping into Hell. Her prayers are answered through a Divine intervention with angelic protection, giving her another chance for recovery.

This is a horror short story about a hard-headed, down on his luck writer who is befriended by a Russian gypsy. The gypsy is sure the writer''s life is in peril, but the writer doesn''t believe him, even though he keeps getting warnings from other sources as well. He finds himself in a goth bookstore and the attached coffee emporium and faces the evil within. You know you can''t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you just know when a person is a bit off.

This is a humorous short fiction story of pet cats who design a clever plan to keep their owner home to play with them, by hiding something of hers that she would not dare to go out of the house without.

This is a exciting short story of interracial love, when two writers from the United States meet in Paris at a Writers'' Salon and Retreat and sparks ignite. They fall in love at first sight and first write, having a thrilling romantic and sensual stay in the City of Love, only to have an elegant lady of mystery show up and change the course of true love.

This a fictional short story of a black family on vacation and traveling by trailer in 1958. On the home stretch of their trip back to Dayton, Ohio from Mexico City, they stop off at Paris Landing State Park in Tennessee and discover from a racist trooper that the area where they parked is for Whites Only and that they better get over to the Colored Side immediately. This public park is covered by the Separate-but-Equal (Jim Crow) Laws and in no uncertain terms he bellows: "Da Law''s da Law!" A large travel group from Ohio is in the park when this ruckus happens and decides to intervene, making for exciting dynamics in the early years of the Civil Rights Movement.

This is an intriguing short story depicting some of the horrors of slavery: A large cotton plantation, a cruel slave owner and evil overseer, a dutiful wife, a beautiful mulatto house slave, a loving friendship, a plot of escape, the magic of a Hoodoo conjure man, a Halloween masquerade, a Mask, and a just transformation leading to death. This is a must read for a ''taste'' out of American history - the horrors of slavery.

This is a way-out, short, suspenseful fictional story about an evil clown who escapes from prison to leave behind his evil past and his evil clown brothers to go "Solo." He is also searching for a woman to help him change his evil ways. There is a pursuit, a conflict, a stalking, a UFO, an invasion, and a battle. Don''t miss one action-packed moment!

This is Part I of a short, general fiction tale about a beautiful maiden who lives in the magical Kingdom of Epania, A Land of Dragons. She is a very selfish and very lazy young lady who only thinks about herself and no one else. She has been cautioned by her family not to let her hair ripple the water when she''s sitting down by the Jade Lagoon combing her tresses. She fails to take heed of the warnings and the Nymph of the Jade Lagoon casts a strong spell on her to teach her a valuable lesson in life. The only way to remove the spell is for a brave and gallant prince to rescue her from herself. This occurs in Part II which will follow shortly.

This is a short fantasy fiction story involving a young woman who is a human trafficking victim bought by the leader of the Satan''s Hellhounds MC. He feels that women and nature are to be used and abused. The gang goes on a backcountry camping trip to conquer a forest wilderness rumored by locals to be haunted. The bikers go on a savage spree attacking anything alive or green as they make their way through the forest. In the end, they discover that it''s not cool to be cruel to Mother Nature.

This is a short, stranger-than-fiction story about getting locked inside a large cemetery. It has a hint of humor, because humor lightened the stress I was feeling in my gut with the prospect that darkness would soon be advancing. I trembled at the thought that the Woodland Hills Cemetery ghosts would soon be up and roaming the grounds. What would you have done?

This is the continuation of the trilogy, A Dragon to Love. This tale introduces Part II: Prince Trilaine''s Story. It shares the life and adventures of Prince Trilaine, with his loving parents, Queen Manya and Prince Laramar, of Beles. You learn about his knighthood training, where he excels in weaponry and horsemanship, and becomes the best jouster in the realm; and wherever he goes, the young maidens ''swoon on their feet.'' You''re introduced to a grand Ball at Dragonore where all the eligible young women of Epania are invited; all hoping they will be the one to catch the prince''s eye, and live happily-ever-after in Dragonore. Prince Trilaine is captivated by a young maiden in a royal blue gown. Shortly after the glamorous and exciting Ball, the Royal Family is plunged into grief. The last section of the story sets the stage for Prince Trilaine to embark on a dangerous quest to rescue his one true love.

This is a short fiction story about an interracial couple who encounter the traditional Dutch Christmas character, Zwarte Piet or Black Pete, who is St. Nick''s menial helper, on their vacation to the Netherlands; who experience a racist incident; and who find themselves in the middle of the current controversy on Black Pete. Is this simply a fun and harmless character, or a racist representation of black people based upon the Dutch history of empire expansion and the slave trade, and views similar to that in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries as demonstrated by the minstrel shows. Does it perpetuate racism by teaching children from an early age that this character is okay and representative of black people. You be the judge.

This is a short, action-packed, science-fiction story of a 19 year old young man who''s a geek and whose mother is urging him to get a job...telling him that there is more to life than playing video games. She tells him that he must ''start pulling his weight'' at home, and share the financial responsibilities. He receives a way-out job offer from the Blue Man, an intergalactic bounty hunter, to fight a dangerous scourge of the universe, when he comes face-to-leg with that scourge who is lurking in his basement.

This is a short fantasy fiction story of a young woman who finds herself mesmerized by a handsome man in a pub. She leaves her drink to go to the ladies room to compose herself, thus committing a major faux pas. The man offers to walk her home after she starts feeling woozy, thinking he''s going to take advantage of her, but he finds out the searing truth, too late.

This is an exciting short fiction story about a young girl who was referred unknowingly to a training school for young witches, about a cult extractor assigned to rescue this young girl to expose the questionable practices going on at the school, and about an arranged marriage to the devil.

Read this scary short fiction story about former college roommates who are gifted a collectible, but warped, vintage Ouija Board. They are warned to fix the warped board before they play the game or bad things will happen. They fail to honor their promise to fix the warp before they play and encounter the wrath of the Ouija.

This is a short fiction story about townspeople being lured to a new restaurant called Old Scratch. The devilish hook to get the people to come to the Grand Opening is based upon the sins of greed and gluttony. This a a great story to understand the depths the devil and his minions will stoop to, in order to snatch souls.

How a Black woman from Texas became one of the most well-known civil rights activists in Minnesota, detailing seven remarkable decades of fighting for fairness in voting, housing, education, and employment  Why do you continue to work on issues of justice? young Black people ask Josie Johnson today, then, perhaps in the same breath, How do you maintain hope? This book, a lifetime in the making, is Josie’s answer. A memoir about shouldering the cause of social justice during the darkest hours and brightest moments for civil rights in America-and, specifically, in Minnesota-Hope in the Struggle shines light on the difference one person can make. For Josie Johnson, this has meant making a difference as a Black woman in one of the nation’s whitest states.Josie’s story begins in a tight-knit community in Texas, where the unfairness of the segregated South, so antithetical to the values she learned at home, sharpened a sense of justice that guides her to this day. From the age of fourteen, when she went door to door with her father in Houston to campaign against the Poll Tax, to the moment in 2008 when, as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, she cast her vote for Barack Obama for president, she has been at the forefront of the politics of civil rights. Her memoir offers a close-up picture of what that struggle has entailed, whether working as a community organizer for the Minneapolis Urban League or lobbying for fair housing and employment laws, investigating civil rights abuses or co-chairing the Minnesota delegation to the March on Washington, becoming the first African American to serve on the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents or creating the university’s Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs with a focus on minority affairs and diversity. An intimate view of civil rights history in the making, Hope in the Struggle is a uniquely inspiring life story for these current dark and divisive times, a testament to how one determined soul can make the world a better place.

The compassionate and redemptive story of a prominent Black woman in the Twin Cities literary communityCarolyn Holbrook’s life is peopled with ghosts-of the girl she was, the selves she shed and those who have caught up to her, the wounded and kind and malevolent spirits she’s encountered, and also the beloved souls she’s lost and those she never knew who beg to have their stories told. “Now don’t you go stirring things up,” one ghostly aunt counsels. Another smiles encouragingly: “Don’t hold back, child. Someone out there needs to hear what you have to say.” Once a pregnant sixteen-year-old incarcerated in the Minnesota juvenile justice system, now a celebrated writer, arts activist, and teacher who helps others unlock their creative power, Holbrook has heeded the call to tell the story of her life, and to find among its chapters-the horrific and the holy, the wild and the charmed-the lessons and necessary truths of those who have come before. In a memoir woven of moments of reckoning, she summons stories born of silence, stories held inside, untold stories stifled by pain or prejudice or ignorance. A child’s trauma recalls her own. An abusive marriage returns to haunt her family. She builds a career while raising five children as a single mother; she struggles with depression and grapples with crises immediate and historical, all while countenancing the subtle racism lurking under “Minnesota nice.” Here Holbrook poignantly traces the path from her troubled childhood to her leadership positions in the Twin Cities literary community, showing how creative writing can be a powerful tool for challenging racism and the healing ways of the storyteller’s art.

A brilliant and rich gathering of voices on the American experience of this past year and beyond, from Indigenous writers and writers of color from Minnesota  In this significant collection, Indigenous writers and writers of color bear witness to one of the most unsettling years in the history of the United States. Essays and poems vividly reflect and comment on the traumas we endured in 2020, beginning with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, deepened by the blatant murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and the uprisings that immersed our city into the epicenter of passionate, worldwide demands for justice. In inspired and incisive writing these contributors speak unvarnished truths not only to the original and pernicious racism threaded through the American experience but also to the deeply personal, in essays about family, loss, food culture, economic security, and mental health. Their call and response is united here to rise and be heard. We Are Meant to Rise lifts up the astonishing variety of BIPOC writers in Minnesota. From authors with international reputations to newly emerging voices, it features people from many cultures, including Indigenous Dakota and Anishinaabe, African American, Hmong, Somali, Afghani, Lebanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Puerto Rican, Colombian, Mexican, transracial adoptees, mixed race, and LGBTQ+ perspectives. Most of the contributors have participated in More Than a Single Story, a popular and insightful conversation series in Minneapolis that features Indigenous and people of color speaking on what most concerns their communities. We Are Meant to Rise meets the events of the day, the year, the centuries before, again and again, with powerful testament to the intrinsic and unique value of the human voice.Contributors: Suleiman Adan, Mary Moore Easter, Louise Erdrich, Anika Fajardo, Safy-Hallan Farah, Said Farah, Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, Pamela R. Fletcher Bush, Shannon Gibney, Kathryn Haddad, Tish Jones, Ezekiel Joubert III, Douglas Kearney, Ed Bok Lee, Ricardo Levins Morales, Arleta Little, Resmaa Menakem, Tess Montgomery, Ahmad Qais Munhazim, Melissa Olson, Alexs Pate, Bao Phi, Mona Susan Power, Samantha Sencer-Mura, Said Shaiye, Erin Sharkey, Sun Yung Shin, Michael Torres, Diane Wilson, Kao Kalia Yang, and Kevin Yang.

For 100 years, Australians have sought their reflection in the Great War. This book tells the story of what we saw.Raise a glass for an Anzac. Run for an Anzac. Camp under the stars for an Anzac. Is there anything Australians won’t do to keep the Anzac legend at the centre of our national story?Standing firm on the other side of the enthusiasts is a chorus of critics claiming that the appetite for Anzac is militarising our history and indoctrinating our children. So how are we to make sense of this struggle over how we remember the Great War?Anzac, the Unauthorised Biography cuts through the clamour and traces how, since 1915, Australia’s memory of the Great War has declined and surged, reflecting the varied and complex history of the Australian nation itself. Most importantly, it asks why so many Australians persist with the fiction that the nation was born on 25 April 1915.

The legacy of war is complex. From the late twentieth century as we moved closer to the centenary of the start of World War I, Australia was swept by an ‘Anzac revival’ and a feverish sense of commemoration. In this book, leading historians reflect on the commemorative splurge, which involved large amounts of public spending, and also re-examine what happened in the immediate aftermath of the war itself.At the end of 1918, Australia faced the enormous challenge of repatriating hundreds of thousands of soldiers and settling them back into society. Were returning soldiers as traumatised as we think? What did the war mean for Indigenous veterans and for relations between Catholics and Protestants? Did war unify or divide us? The country also faced major questions about its role in the world order that emerged after Versailles. How has the way we commemorate the war skewed our view of what really happened?The Great War reflects on the aftermath of World War I and the commemoration of its centenary. Provocative and engaging essays from a diverse group of leading historians discuss the profound ways in which World War I not only affected our political system and informed decades of national security policy but shaped – and continues to shape - our sense of who we are, for better or worse. This book reminds us that we live with the legacies of war still, in ways we may not see.