Long before Christianity established this feast, the Autumnal Equinox was marked by rituals in most every culture. It is celebrated as a time when we make the first steps toward death – physical, spiritual and emotional. It is a time of turning inward, of going down into ourselves, our dens, the earth. It is a period of contemplation.
House of Mercy marks the feast with food, music, and the liturgical arts.
Eating together, when the darkness comes early, brings warmth and safety. It is ancient. We need each other.
Readings by:
Jonas Erickson hails from Colorado and Minnesota, and is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Minnesota, studying the radical, early modern origins of the essay form.
Luke Finsaas is a writer, designer, and web guy who lives in St. Paul. He ran the experimental literary collective, Revolver, until 2016 and is now working on his first novel. He’s also the current president of House of Mercy.
Amy Munson is a poet. Her book Yes Thorn (Tupelo Press, 2016) was a finalist for the 2016 Minnesota Book Awards in Poetry. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband Scott, son William, and daughter Louisa, and is currently at work on a second collection of poems, Infancy Gospel.
Sonja Olson will read an excerpt from Flood and Flame: A Journal of the East Side by Jonni Vesinen (1953-2018). Vesinen was a house painter, liquor salesman, handyman, occasional writer and regular at Porky’s Bar. Following his death a notebook was found in a small box of mementos labelled ‘for the bar.’ The notebook made the rounds at the bar before being brought to the attention of a fellow writer. Publication forthcoming.