Hello from Duluth, Minnesota
Meet Margi Preus
I enjoy traveling, speaking, and visiting schools all over the world. My books for young readers have won multiple awards, including a Newbery Honor, landed on the New York Times bestseller list and many other “best-of” lists, been honored as ALA/ALSC Notables, featured on NPR, and chosen for community reads. I have also been a librettist for Lyric Opera of the North based in Duluth, Minnesota as well as other theater-related writing. When not writing, I like to ski, hike, paddle, or sit quietly with a book in my lap.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Please take a moment to explore my work samples below. I hope you’ll also visit the rest of my website!
Windswept
the secret of how to get the children out of troll mountain
“You have to weave a rope . . . a rope of invisible thread,” says old graybeard.
I weave a rope of memories—of attic stairs that fold down with a clatter, of a window that reveals the world, of dress up clothes and a forbidden book, tucked away in a hidden place, and three girls’ heads bowed over that book, whispering the stories to each other as the light streams in through the one small window, stories of kings and princesses, of faraway castles and gloomy forests, of glass slippers and silver forests, enchanted frogs and fearsome, fearsome trolls. Made-up stories that are also somehow very, very true.
Little by little, and one by one, the windswepts turn toward me, my words reaching them, tugging at their hearts.
“Our families need us,” I tell them, “Our world needs us.”
They move toward me, and I keep talking, telling them of their homes and families waiting for them, imperfect as they may be, but loving them and missing them, and they follow all the way out of the mountain and into the bright light of day… Continue reading: Download PDF >
West of the Moon
Part I: The Goat Farm, Mid Nineteenth-Century Norway
White Bear King Valemon
The fire hisses, then snaps, and the dog looks up from his place on the hearth. His hackles rise; a low growl escapes him. A hush falls on the room—that curious feeling of something-about-to-happen seizes us. Aunt looks up from her knitting. As for my cousins, the eldest holds her needle in midair; the middle one falls quiet, taking her hands away from the loom and setting them in her lap. The twins are silent, for once.
And me? Somewhere, deep within me, my heart pounds, distant as an echo, as if it is already far away, in another place and another time.
There’s a story I know about a white bear who came and took the youngest daughter away with him, promising the family everything they wanted and more, if the father would only let him take her. In the story, the family was sitting in their house when something passed by outside the window. Hands to their hearts, they all gasped. Pressed up against the window was the face of a bear—a white bear—his wet nose smearing the glass, his eyes searching the room… Continue reading: Download PDF >
Tales from a Safe Distance
10 creative teams. 9 companies from across the United States. 4 electric nights of new opera.
Boccaccio’s 14th century masterpiece “The Decameron” involved ten characters passing the time while sheltering from a plague by telling one another stories – stories comic, tragic, romantic, sexy, terrifying. The Decameron Opera Coalition adapted those stories for the modern pandemic era.
Ten friends last saw one another on a starlit rooftop in Florence. Now, their only way to share a toast is via a video call from their pandemic lockdown locations. How to pass the time when no one has new developments to share? Make up stories! But will they inspire one another to overcome their COVID-era ennui?
Part 1, “Everything Comes to a Head,” was co-created by the Lyric Opera of the North and inspired by The Decameron Day 4, Story 5 “Filomena’s Story.” Margi and co-librettist Jean Sramek, collaborated with composer Rachel J. Peters on an original script and score with a comic flair to the delight of online audiences:
Show Description: Where is Basil, Rosemary’s boyfriend? He made like a tree and leaved. He made like a banana and peeled. He made like a bush and burned. He made like a pandemic committee meeting and Zoomed. Rosemary is worried their love has gone dormant (was it the lack of spice in their relationship?) but she’s staying planted in her tiny apartment. Her roommates, on the other hand, think Rosemary doesn’t need to cultivate that kind of baggage. Basil was deadwood! “Everything Comes to a Head” gives us some sage advice: if the roots of love are deep enough, it doesn’t matter if you’re in mint condition.
Les Uncomfortables
an original comic opera
“Les Uncomfortables” was created by Tyler Kaiser, Jean Sramek and Margi Preus in collaboration with Colder By The Lake. The original comic opera that broke new ground ( and a few portages) in the regional opera scene.
Les Uncomfortables is an original comic opera, sung in English. It is based on the true adventures of Daniel Greysolon Sieur duLhut, the explorer for whom the city of Duluth is named. The story includes love and loss, portaging and paddling, mosquitoes and mistaken identity.
