Rain Taxi

November 2021 Update—The Changes Continue!

The challenges of the past years have inspired us here at Rain Taxi to think boldly about how to fulfill—and deepen—our mission to champion writers, readers, and good books. Rain Taxi has broadened our reach through digital offerings in 2020 and 2021 and provided unprecedented event access to a national literary audience. Now, we're continuing to bring our biggest annual event to new heights!

Rain Taxi’s 2021 Twin Cities Book Festival returned to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, where it once again delighted thousands of in-person visitors. This year, our hybrid format also included virtual events in the weeks leading up to the live portion, bringing our signature event to a national audience. This was an incredible and fulfilling extension of our mission, but it was also incredibly labor intensive.

Now we're seeking to raise $10,000 to help drive Rain Taxi’s 2022 Twin Cities Book Festival to readers everywhere. Achieving this goal will ensure that we have the necessary personnel, technology, and infrastructure to pull off an expansive hybrid festival in 2022 as well: 

• Our live experience in mid-October will still offer bibliophiles all the joys of in-person browsing, meeting writers and publishers, and activities for readers age 1 to 101. We were so glad to be able to see out in-person community again in 2021 and we want to continue expanding this offering in 2022!
• Our virtual experience will continue to bring unique author conversations and happenings into the digital realm. Starting shortly after Labor Day, audiences from anywhere will be able to tune in on a weekly basis leading up to our live show, engaging with amazing writers in every genre imaginable. 

Your generosity can make all of this happen! While any amount will help us reach our goal, keep in mind that donations of $25 or more make you a Rain Taxi member, and members get Rain Taxi Review of Books delivered four times a year — it’s like getting a Book Festival in your mailbox! 

In addition to our regular benefits—visit our website to see them all!—we’ve added on some perks offered only during this campaign; click DONATE to find out more. Thank you for contributing to make our reimagined bookfest a reality!

Left: 2019 Twin Cities Book Festival;  Center: Author Olga Tokarczuk and Rain Taxi Editor Eric Lorberer; Right: Naomi Shihab Nye and Kaveh Akbar at the 2020 Twin Cities Book Festival

A quick reminder of our core programs:

• Rain Taxi Review of Books, our award-winning print quarterly of reviews and interviews, distributed free of charge at independent bookstores and literary organizations across the country;
• Raintaxi.org, our constantly updated website, which contains even more book reviews and interviews, as well as videos, articles, and resources for educators;
• Rain Taxi’s Twin Cities Book Festival, an annual gala that brings writers of renown to Minnesota and showcases publishers, writers, and community organizations—this year's  virtual events are available for replay HERE!
• Rain Taxi Literary Events, a roughly monthly series featuring visiting and local writers, providing widespread access to a huge range of literary art through (recently) virtual broadcasting;
• Rain Taxi’s TwinCitiesLiteraryCalendar.com, a free online directory of readings and book events taking place throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area;
•  and chapbooks and broadsides of poetry and prose; we published three new chapbooks this year, and will publish three more in 2022!

THANK YOU!