A fifth-grade student named Loudricka at Morningside K-8 Academy wrote this poem for O, Miami and National Poetry Month.

Words and stories have a powerful effect for people, Nick Northrup said. That was part of the reason it was impressive to see southwest Minnesota youth sharing their writing, he said. “That you are ...

He’s a perceptive reader, and he has a knack for writing about poems in ways that lend shape and even excitement to the act of reading and thinking about them. He’s also comfortable ignoring some of ...