In the darkest nights of winter 2014-15, Revolver invited three writers to collaborate with local musician LOTT (violinist Leah Ottman) in making work to be read and performed around the most ancient storytelling venue we could think of: the hearth. 

Each piece created (both musical and literary) had to be on a topic inspired by the neighborhood in which the fire took place. Attendees of each Firelogues voted on the localized topics, and brought food and drink to share.  

December we lit the fire in Whittier, in the backyard of the George R. Newell mansion. The topic was "ghost-busting." 

Leah created a haunting song to pair with a piece by O. Henry Prize winning writer Emma Torzs. 

In February, we crossed the river to East St. Paul, to home of New York Times- featured artist and friends of Revolver, Chris Larson and his partner Kriss Zulkowsky.

Andy Sturdevant (author of Potluck Supper with Meeting to Follow, Coffee House Press) waxed historical on "Pacific Street," while LOTT explored the indigenous roots of Mounds Park.

In our final night of the series, we watched the snow melt in March at a fire in the backyard of the infamous 1887 speakeasy near Powderhorn Park.  

Jerome grantee Vincent Moniz Jr. stunned with poems on his childhood in South Minneapolis, while LOTT gave us a meditation on grass near the pond. 

Our first Firelogues series was intimate and populated with faces new to Revolver staff. We found immense value in making room and time for imagination and warmth during the harsh Minnesotan winter, we well as pushing artists to create original, place-based work chosen by the very faces that filled Twin Cities yards and living rooms. In 2015-16, we look forward to bringing Firelogues to Northeast, Longfellow, North, and beyond.