Paul co-founded the Speedboat Gallery, an alternative performance space, in St. Paul, Minnesota. From 1988 to 1994, the gallery and all-ages venue hosted bands from all over the world, including Green Day, Bikini Kill, Citizen Fish, Arcwelder, Jawbox, Slant Six, and many others. The Speedboat Gallery exhibited works from visual artists Frank Gaard, Bruce Tapola, Alexa Horochowski, Andy Baird, Scott Dolan, Mildred Beltre and Mary Esch.

Paul's band, Frances Gumm, an uncompromising force in post-punk mayhem, have toured with Pavement, Sebadoh and Royal Trux.

Dickinson has contributed to three films as both an actor and a writer.

Tired Moonlight, an independent film shot in Kalispell, Montana, won the Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2015. The film showed at festivals worldwide, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Vienna International Film Festival. The New York Times praised Paul's poetry as "...gritty, stark, aching..."

Lake Street Detective is a comedic mystery about a poet/detective searching a Midwestern city for a mysterious thief.

The Last City in the East, a short film, was an Official Selection of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival. "Beautifully shot in Super 8...sharp-witted, imagery-rich wording" — City Pages.

Watch Paul in The Last City in the East
a short film - free stream!

Paul D. Dickinson is a product of the Saint Paul, Minnesota public schools. He holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he studied under the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Tate. While at UMass, Dickinson's band, Frances Gumm, practiced at the home of his classmate, David Berman. Dickinson has written two books of poetry: High Kick to the Head and Cars, Bars and Electric Guitars. His writing has appeared in Conduit, City Pages and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

His latest book is Junker Dreams — An Automotive Memoir from Hopewell Publications.

Junker Dreams audiobook with introduction by comedian Mary Mack of Solar Opposites

Junker Dreams Interview with 89.3 The Current

Paul is the founder and host of the Riot Act Reading Series, one of the longest running events in the Twin Cities. The series has featured hundreds of poets, musicans and comedians, including: Charlie Parr, Mary Mack, Mark Mallman, Brett Eugene Ralph, Emily Carter, William Waltz, Laura Brandenburg, Cole Sarar, Frank Henry Rawlings III, and Rana May.

Paul is available for readings or lectures.
Email for details.