Carolyn Holbrook is a writer, educator, and an advocate for the healing power of the arts. She is the founder and director of More Than a Single Story, a Twin Cities-based literary arts organization whose mission is to position the literary arts as a catalyst for cross-cultural healing and social justice. Her memoir, Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify (UMN Press), won the 2021 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. She is co-editor with David Mura of the anthology, We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World (UMN Press), and is co-author with Arleta Little of MN civil rights icon, Dr. Josie R. Johnson’s memoir, Hope In the Struggle (UMN Press). She was a Contributing Editor, Water~Stone Review, Vol. 24, Hamline University 2021-2022. Her essays have appeared in numerous anthologies including Black Renaissance Noire (NYU 2008), Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota (MNHS 2015) and A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota (MNHS 2016). Her TEDx talk, "The Life You Live Is the Legacy You Will Leave" was presented at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN in 2022. She has a poem forthcoming September 2026 in Witness: Poems to Address the Past, Present, and Future of Policing (Zest Books/Lerner Publishing Group), an essay forthcoming October 2026 in Nick of Time: Women Write about Art, Life & Aging (U of M Press), and an essay forthcoming January 2027 in American Occupation: Dispatches From Minnesota’s Resistance to ICE (U of M Press). Her writing has been supported by several MN State Arts Board grants. Her awards include the Minnesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award, 2010; Hamline University Exemplary Teacher, 2014; 50 over 50, 2017; Celebrate the Sistas, 2020; Flowers Now!, 2024. She was the 2025 McKnight Distinguished Artist. She teaches at the Loft Literary Center and at other venues throughout the Twin Cities. She is the mother of 5, grandmother of 8 and great-grandmother of 5. https://www.carolynleeholbrook.com/

https://morethanasinglestory.com/

Carolyn Holbrook is a recipient of fiscal year 2020 Artist Initiative, and fiscal years 2021-2023 Creative Support for Individuals grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.