Welcome to the Book of The North

This is the Book of The North, funded by the University of Minnesota Imagine Fund for Arts, Humanities, and Design. Planned for exhibition in the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Tweed Museum in Spring of 2027, the text will bring medieval book arts to life through immersive programming exploring the relationship between the cultures of Minnesota and the ecology of the region. This website and blog will serve as the hub of the project, hosting our blogs, interviews, information, and programming for the Book of The North, as well as all of our social media links. 

Made entirely by hand, from the paper to the ink to the binding, the book will host voices of Lakota, Ojibwe, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Jewish, German, Slavic, English, Latinx, Somali, and Hmong Minnesotans and their historical patterns of inhabitation and settlement in the Northland, lab reports on human impacts on the environment document the pollutants and microplastics present in the locally sourced fibers for paper and pigments for ink, and maps of the region. All of this will be hand scribed by Dr. Krista Sue-Lo Twu, a professor in the Department of English, Linguistics & Writing Studies at UMD and the recipient of and chair of the University of Minnesota Imagine Fun for Arts, Humanities, and Design. 

Dr. Twu, using medieval calligraphy techniques, will transcribe all of the Book of The North, using ink made from oak, walnut, and buckthorn, on paper made of native milkweed, cultivated flax, and invasive nettles. All of these materials will be harvested and crafted into their respective materials during the course of the project, imitating the medieval styles of bookmaking. Yet, just as one person could not build Minnesota alone, the Book of The North is a deeply collaborative project, bringing together experts from the fields of premodern studies, communication, fiber, native American studies, world languages, ecology, biology, chemistry, and engineering. And of course, a multitude of community events and programming over the next two years!