Welcome

Hello!

Welcome to One Minnesota Crone.

I’m Kathleen Cassen Mickelson. I wrote blog posts for years at my original site, One Minnesota Writer; co-founded the poetry journal Gyroscope Review; and had poetry and fiction published in journals in the US, UK, and Canada. During the pandemic, I left the editorial staff of Gyroscope Review and published my first chapbook, How We Learned to Shut Our Own Mouths (available on Amazon).

After I came back from my usual summer hiatus in September of 2021, I sat down at my computer and realized some thread of excitement had unraveled and shrunk. Over the summer, I played with different creative outlets and fully understood I was bored sitting in front of my computer. I was happier shooting photos in the garden or on hiking trails, doing paint pours in the garage, cooking for family and friends. By the time I returned to my work at One Minnesota Writer, it was clear that a change had to happen. I was no longer content limiting myself to the title of “writer”. I am more than that.

That’s when I created this site with “crone” replacing “writer”. I considered using the word “creative”, but the term “crone” is one I’ve become quite fond of. When I worked at Gyroscope Review, my co-editor Constance Brewer and I launched a fall issue dedicated to women poets over the age of 50. We were both taken aback at the huge response we received and decided that the crone issue, as it came to be known, would become an annual thing. We were convinced that crone was the correct term because crones are wise women, experienced women who branch out into a broad array of activities and actions. Constance has continued as editor at Gyroscope Review, where the response to that effort continues to grow. I’ve been thinking about that a lot, along with my own creative path. I’m a crone, the age of 50 now well in my rearview mirror. Time to embrace who I am in this moment. Time to branch out more.

Women over 50 – crones – are a force to be reckoned with. We are indeed wise. We are creative. We are vibrant. And we are unafraid.

We aren’t about to disappear.