On the night of a full moon in Grand Marais, a small crowd gathers on the pebbled shore of Lake Superior. Sometimes there are eight people, sometimes 30. They arrive wrapped in parkas and wool hats, drawn by a bonfire and the promise of North Shore bonhomie. Some bring poems folded in their pockets. Others come only to listen. All are welcome.
This is the Full Moon Reading at Drury Lane Books, a monthly gathering that resists easy labels. “’Event’ is not even almost the right word,” said Gwen Danfelt, store manager. “It’s kind of an open mic,” Danfelt said. “Poetry, spoken word, picture books, your own poetry, someone else’s poetry. Anyone can share.”
What has grown out of that openness is something less performative and more communal. “It’s so authentic,” Danfelt said. “It’s just so charming. In a world where it can be hard to find authenticity, where we live so much of our lives online, this is different. You don’t just catch it later. You have to come out, bundle up, and show up.”
That physical act of showing up matters. Danfelt recalled a night last October when she brought out Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel. About 30 mostly adult listeners leaned in. A woman recognized a story about soup and asked to read it aloud. “She said, ‘When I was sick at home, my mom would make me soup and read me this story,’” Danfelt said. “She read it, and it was so sweet. Picture books and poetry get in you. You remember the things that were read to you.”
Those moments are common. A regular brings sharp, funny haikus. A college student once drove up from Duluth to read early poems, proud and nervous. “We all listened,” Danfelt recalled. “People aren’t judging. It doesn’t have to feel performative. It just goes.”
Some attendees never read aloud. They come for the fire, the moon, and the listening. Others wander in mid-evening and drift out again. The readings run from 6-8 p.m., and the shape of the night is fluid. According to Danfelt, “People show up, people leave, people are walking by. It’s organic.”
The consistency of the gathering helps sustain it. Full Moon Readings happen year-round, weather permitting. “Once we were able to do it consistently through the winter, it really settled in,” Danfelt said. “There’s a solid group of locals, and then people who are visiting town see it and say, ‘Bonfire and poetry? This is awesome.’ It feels very Grand Marais.”
Kestrel Burton, Drury Lane Books’ events manager, sees the readings as community-building first. “My main goal is to build community, not strictly around poetry and literature but around experiences,” Burton said. “Not everyone is into poetry, so I open the floor to short essays, picture books, lyrics, passages from stories, or just listening.”
Those shared moments often spill into conversation. “There’s bonding that leads to great conversations about lived experiences, favorite movie scenes or songs, and other media,” Burton said. “Before we know it, there’s a little pocket of people who recognize and support each other outside of Full Moon nights.”
That sense of belonging can be especially meaningful in a small town. “Grand Marais can be an isolating place if you’re new or haven’t found a place you feel comfortable, especially for introverts,” Burton said.
Creating a safe atmosphere is intentional. “Poetry can be terrifying and vulnerable to share,” Burton said. “I strive to make it a safe and judgment-free zone.” Burton shared that reading aloud can still feel nerve-wracking for them. “Some of the kindest support I’ve found in this town has been during these readings,” they said. “It makes a person feel buoyant.”
The Full Moon Readings reflect a broader philosophy at Drury Lane Books, which has long been more than a retail space. Founded in 2002 by Joan Drury, the bookstore grew out of decades of work supporting writers, women, and community causes. That legacy still shapes how the store operates today.
“We’re not as cheap or as fast as Amazon,” Danfelt said. “But we’re cuter. And we’re better.”
Drury Lane typically has about 6,000 books on its shelves, and Danfelt sees that selection as carefully curated rather than overwhelming. “If someone comes in and tells us two books they’ve liked recently and one they didn’t like, we can recommend five new options,” she said. “No algorithm involved.”
Instead of relying on marketing dollars or digital targeting, the store relies on human knowledge. “We know good books, and we know a wide variety of books. We’re thoughtful humans who know books. That’s what you get when you come to an indie bookstore, or a library.”
That human curation makes the process both easier and more meaningful for readers. “We do the work of selection for you,” Danfelt said. “So it’s more efficient, but also more successful. This is what brick-and-mortar shopping has always been.”
On full moon nights, that same ethos carries outside, down to the shore. People gather and share words with one another as the fire burns low. What happens there cannot be replicated online.
“It’s a real community gathering,” Danfelt said. “You can’t contrive that.”
For more information, including Full Moon Reading dates, visit: drurylanebooks.com.
