Minnesota Prairie Roots

HE’S A MESMERIZING and engaging storyteller. He is Joseph Mbele, retired professor of post-colonial literature at St. Olaf College in Northfield, cultural consultant and author.

And Wednesday, February 11, at 6 p.m., Mbele will be the featured speaker at a free literary event at Books on Central, a volunteer-run used bookshop of the Rice County Area United Way. Located in the heart of historic downtown Faribault, home to many Somali immigrants and refugees, the bookshop seems a fitting place for Mbele to talk about the living tradition of African folktales and the role of the storyteller. Somali men gather on street corners in downtown Faribault to share stories and news.

I’ve heard Mbele speak at this bookshop previously. I absolutely cannot say enough positive things about the warm way he connects with the audience, the way he uses stories to teach, the way he genuinely cares about bridging cultural differences.

As an author, his writing carries that same compassionate, culturally-connective message. He’s written Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences, Chickens in the Bus: More Thoughts on Cultural Differences, and Matengo Folktales.

Mbele knows of what he speaks and writes. Born in rural Tanzania, he studied and taught at a public university there; earned a PhD in African Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin—Madison; and eventually landed in the English department of St. Olaf College in 1991.

His visit to Books on Central on Wednesday evening presents an opportunity to learn from a gifted storyteller about African folktales and culture in a comfortable setting back-dropped by shelves of books.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling