Michael Kiesow Moore is an award-winning writer of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Among many awards, he has received a Minnesota State Arts Board fellowship and a Loft Mentor Series Award. He has published short stories, poetry, and essays in journals and magazines including Water~Stone, Evergreen Chronicles, Peacework, The James White Review, Mpls. St. Paul Magazine, and in the book, A Loving Testimony: Losing Loved Ones Lost to AIDS.
Moore was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming and grew up in Florida and Maryland. A transplant to Minnesota, he enjoys the thriving writing and artistic community there. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Towson University with special honors and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Hamline University, receiving the Outstanding Thesis award. His advisors at Hamline University were Deborah Keenan and Mary Rockcastle. During his year-long Loft Mentor Series residency he studied with Alison McGhee, Molly Peacock, G.E. Patterson, Elizabeth Alexander, Mark Winegardner, and Evelina Chao.
Moore is the curator for the new Birchbark Books Reading Series at Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, an independent bookstore owned by Louise Erdrich.
Moore teaches creative writing and is an instructor at the Loft Literary Center. His classes in the past have included:
- Using Great Short Stories to Improve Your Writing
- Using Short Stories by Annie Proulx to Improve Your Fiction Writing
- Beginning Creative Nonfiction
- Using Short Stories by Margaret Atwood to Improve Your Fiction Writing
- Writing About the Natural World: Unearthing Grace and Mystery
- Writing from the Visual Arts
Moore also teaches “Writing Peace Into the World.” Tailored either as an ongoing class or a one-time workshop, he teaches his students how to use writing to learn about peace, and to bring peace forward into their lives. He also facilitates a monthly writers group devoted to peace and social justice.
Moore believes strongly in the importance of community service. Current and past projects include:
- Co-chair of the University of Minnesota GLBT Systemwide Commission
- Founder of Pride@Work, a GLBT employee network
- Board of Directers of One Voice Mixed Chorus
- Appointment to the Minnesota Department of Health’s HIV Services Community Advisory Group
- Volunteer Coordinator of the 1988 NAMES Project at the Minneapolis Metrodome
- Organizer of the 1987 March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights
- Longtime caretaker to men and women living with AIDS
Michael standing before the 2008 Art of Peace gallery show that showed 25 paintings from Iraq, where art of American and Iraqi artists were displayed side by side symbolizing comity and mutual desires for reconciliation and healing.
