A Literary Journal About the Bucolic City

When MOQ launched in 2006, we were honored to be nominated for Best New Publication in that year's Utne Independent Press Awards. At a luncheon for winners and nominees the following spring, the folks at Utne Reader said this about MOQ:

"The Minneapolis Observer Quarterly shares quirky reflections on the city, ... [including] historical tidbits about Minneapolis parks, cemeteries, libraries, and so on. Because it’s published quarterly, it has the luxury of largely avoiding timeliness, focusing instead on the people, places, and ideas that make our fair city tick."

MOQ in a nutshell: A quarterly journal of nature in the city, local history and literature, and urban miscellany, focusing on the natural geography of the city of Minneapolis (though we do stray into St. Paul often enough). Too often the idea of urban is paired with concepts like gritty or hard; we, however, are more interested in the soft-around-the-edges-built-for-comfort-not-speed kind of urban. Living an easy bike ride from the library, hardware store and coffee shop, for example -- that kind of urban.

Published by: Minneapolis Observer, a “sole” proprietorship consisting of Craig Cox and Sharon Parker. We have no office and no staff and no paid contributors. You might call it a mom-and-pop publication, although after a few glasses of wine, we call it artisan. Please see below regarding submissions and internships.

Distribution: MOQ is available for $4 a copy at local co-ops and independent bookstores (carried by Don Olson Distribution), and at occasional events that we participate in, such as the Twin Cities Book Festival. We print 300 copies, mail to about 100 subscribers, including the Minneapolis and St. Paul public libraries, and give away copies to contributors, advertisers, and others on occasion. You may also purchase a single copy from us by mailing a check for $4 to the address given below for subscriptions, or sending payment via PayPal to sharon-at-mplsobserver.com, or visiting our subscribe page.

Subscriptions: One-year subscriptions (four issues) cost $15. Subscribers may send their request and mailing information, along with a check made out to Minneapolis Observer, to 4521 45th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406. Or subscribe online.

Submissions and internships: We do like to get other voices and artwork into MOQ, but do not have the means to actually pay writers for their contributions, so we offer contributor copies and an attractive setting for your words or image as sole compensation. If that hasn't deterred you, please scroll down for a PDF of our submission guidelines.

And we have actually worked with an intern, twice, in a mutually satisfying exchange, and are certainly open to doing it again, if the candidate is looking to explore the bucolic city while gaining a little insight into the workings of a small DIY ("artisan") publication, and maybe add an essay or book review to their portfolio. If this interests you, we recommend that you acquaint yourself with the publication by requesting a few sample back issues. Contact Sharon, sharon-at-mplsobserver.com, with your request and/or questions.

Background on The Minneapolis Observer: Craig launched The Minneapolis Observer as a subscriber-based weekly e-mail newsletter in August 2001 to foster civic literacy and citizen engagement by offering focused news coverage for the city of Minneapolis. In February 2004 we began publishing a print version of The Minneapolis Observer as a free monthly newspaper. It was received with enthusiasm by the city’s politcoes and engaged citizens and also by members of the arts community for its attention to less-well-publicized arts venues and events. We printed the last Observer in December 2005.

So, why now MOQ? We had been hearing from loyal Observer readers that they missed our presence in print; we missed it too. But we had learned from our earlier publishing misadventures that there are too many free newspapers in the city chasing after too few advertising dollars. We decided that if we were to venture into print again we were going to have to come up with something completely different.

Rather than thinking big, we decided to get smaller -- in dimensions, in circulation, and especially in our ambitions. Rather than give away papers for free and hope that advertisers will pick up the tab, we decided to ask readers to help pay for it. And rather than try to make print seem like electronic media, we decided to make the most of the tactile and visual pleasure of paper and ink, accentuating the way it invites a more leisurely approach to reading. Our content, which is no longer political or newsy (let's face it, the Web is better for that sort of thing), is crafted to suit this medium. We think it may be journalism’s answer to the slow food movement.