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.
May 9, 2002 - Biologist Sandra Steingraber speaks live from the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. Steingraber's new book, "An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood," discusses the alarming extent to which environmental hazards now threaten each crucial stage of infant development.
May 13, 2002 - Texan author and widely syndicated political columnist Molly Ivins speaks at the College of St. Catherine as part of their "Women in Leadership" series. Ivins is the author of the best-seller "Molly Ivins Can't Say that, Can She?," and her most recent book, about George W. Bush, is titled "Shrub."
May 16, 2002 - Children's book author Mary Casanova was inspired to write her new book after spending time with eagle researchers on Minnesota's Rainy Lake. "When Eagles Fall" introduces young-adult readers to 13-year -old Alex. She's an angry girl sent to live with her father in Minnesota's north woods. Alex is dealing with the death of her younger brother, her parent's separation and typical teenage growing pains. Alex's emotions get the best of her as she defies her father and sets out on an adventure to save a baby eagle. Mary Casanova told Minnesota Public Radio's Greta Cunningham Alex is a good kid who takes a turn and winds up in trouble.
May 16, 2002 - Children's book author Mary Casanova was inspired to write her new book after spending time with eagle researchers on Minnesota's Rainy Lake. "When Eagles Fall" introduces young-adult readers to 13-year -old Alex. She's an angry girl sent to live with her father in Minnesota's north woods. Alex is dealing with the death of her younger brother, her parent's separation and typical teenage growing pains. Alex's emotions get the best of her as she defies her father and sets out on an adventure to save a baby eagle.
May 23, 2002 - MPR’s Euan Kerr interviews writer Garrison Keillor, about the writing libretto for the opera Mr. and Mrs. Olson. The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and a star studded ensemble will present the world premiere of opera.
May 23, 2002 - An All Things Considered/Mainstreet Radio profile of author and poet BIll Holm, his small home town Minneota, and literary history of nearby Marshall. Program includes interview with Holm, various readings performed by MPR staff, and musical elements.
May 28, 2002 - Author and activist Randall Robinson speaks at the University of Minnesota's Nommo forum about slavery reparations. Robinson is the author of two influential books on the subject: "The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks," and "The Reckoning: What Blacks Owe to Each Other."
May 31, 2002 - Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Caro speaks at Ruminator Books in Minneapolis, recorded last week. Caro, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for his book "The Power Broker," is promoting his latest work, "Master of the Senate," the third book in a biographical series about president Lyndon Baines Johnson.
June 11, 2002 - St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter and architecture critic Larry Millett is retiring after 30 years with the paper. Millett began writing a column on architecture and design in the mid-1980's, after a prairie school exhibit at Landmark Center stirred up an interest in architecture he had had since childhood. In the late 1980's, Millett wrote a series of columns on historic buildings the city had torn down, which he turned into a book called "Lost Twin Cities." Millett published his last column today. He says when he started at the paper, downtown St. Paul was in the throws of massive downtown urban renewal.
June 28, 2002 - Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, joins us by phone to talk about her new book, "Profiles in Courage for Our Time."