This collection encompasses 50-plus years of interviews, readings, speeches, and reports on the vibrant literary scene in Minnesota. Not only home to giants F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, our state has an array of incredible contemporary poets, novelists, and playwrights. Their words make up majority of this collection.
Repeatedly being named the “Most Literate City in the United States,” the Twin Cities has played host to numerous visiting national writers via book tours, festivals, and lectures. Many recordings of these are also included.
This project was funded by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.
January 17, 1997 - On this Voices of the Heartland segment, Duluth poet Barton Sutter provides a commentary on the late Minneapolis poet John Engman in a reading of “Citizen of the Milky Way: Eulogy to John Engman.”
January 18, 1997 - Judith Guest is known for chronicling suburban family life in turmoil. Her book "Ordinary People" examined a family's reaction after the death of it's eldest son. Guest's story was turned into an Academy Award-winning film starring Mary Tyler Moore and directed by Robert Redford. Her new book "Errands" once again takes us into the life of a grieving family, this time the family is dealing with the death of the father. This story is based on the real-life marriage of Guest's grandparents. Judith Guest says she doesn't think she's fixated on death, she says her dark subject matter allows her to explore how families deal with their emotions.
January 24, 1997 - Millions of people will sit down this weekend to watch a football game. But Superbowl Thirty One will come and go, on Sunday, WITHOUT one person. However, commentator Ann Daly Goodwin says she hopes everyone who does watch the game - enjoys it!
January 24, 1997 - John Coy reads from his book Night Driving, published by Henry Holt.
January 27, 1997 - It seems everyone's a stargazer these days, with all the publicity given to Comet Hale-Bopp. The comet is expected to be visible over the next few months; after that, it's a safe bet most folks will put their telescopes back on the shelf and start concentrating on earthly things again. But Jim Wentworth won't.
January 31, 1997 - As part of the Voices from the Heartland series, Minnesota poet Diane Glancy reads her poem "The Back Porch of the Country."
January 31, 1997 - Many Minnesota school districts are wondering how to make up for missed "snow days". There's a lot of winter still to come, and while it's common for schools to build two or three extra days into the educational calendar, two or three extra weeks are another matter.
January 31, 1997 - Larger-than-life puppets and the magical realism of writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez come together in the latest production of "In the Heart of the Beast" Mask and Puppet Theater in Minneapolis. "A very old man with enormous wings" tells the tale of a broken, elderly man with wings who mysteriously appears in a coastal village and causes an uproar. While the story sounds more like an ancient legend, the production's creators believe it resonates in modern times.
January 31, 1997 - Pioneer Press architecture critic Larry Millett gives us a critique of the Twins' proposed new ballpark.
January 31, 1997 - "The Loon Resort and Bait Shop" opens in Bemidji tonight. Playwright Phil Holt, a Bemidji native who now lives in Minneapolis, says the play is about returning to one's hometown after many years away.