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.
February 11, 2002 - Rob Horton is 12 years old and lives with his father at the Kentucky Star Hotel in Lister, Florida. Ever since his mother died six months ago, he has a sadness so big he imagines that he can stuff it in a suitcase. He has a secret too, would you believe a real tiger locked in a cage in the woods? You'll find out more about Rob Horton, his sadness and his secret when you read "The Tiger Rising" nominated for a National Book award for children's literature and our next selection for Talking Volumes, the joint book club of MPR, the Loft Literary Center and the Star Tribune. Kate DiCamillo is the author of The Tiger Rising. She has a flair for children's stories that involve animals, her first book, Because of Winn-Dixie, featured a friendly dog and got a friendly nod from critics and librarians who gave it a Newbery honor award.
February 19, 2002 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews co-author Paul Larson about "Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone," a Minnesota Historical Society publication. In interview, Larson highlights accomplishments of the noted African American architect.
February 19, 2002 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews author Paul Nelson about his book "Fredrick L. McGee: A Life on the Color Line."
March 8, 2002 - Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin gave her first public defense against charges of plagiarism last night Thursday before an audience at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul.
March 18, 2002 - A new biography of Minnesota native Sinclair Lewis shines a brighter light on one of the state's literary stars. Lewis was born in Sauk Center in 1885, and wrote best-selling books like Main Street, and Babbitt. He won a Nobel prize for literature in 1930, but that proved to be the peak of a career that lasted into the 1940's. Lewis's legacy has been tarnished because of off-hand treatment by critics and biographers in the past. But the new biography titled "Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street" gives readers a fresh perspective on Lewis' career.
April 3, 2002 - MPR’s Tasha Rosenfeld interviews Minneapolis hip-hop and spoken word artist Desdamona. They discuss First Avenue spoken word event. Desdamona also performs a piece.
April 5, 2002 - The University of Minnesota has announced that the U of M Press will be the subject of an external review to make sure that its publishing criteria and processes meet industry standards. The announcement comes in the wake of controversy over a book that the press will publish next month called "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex." The book, which was written by New York journalist Judith Levine, concludes not all sexual interaction between adults and minors is bad. Christine Maziar, Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School will oversee the review. She says the review will evaluate the Press's procedures against two standards.
April 12, 2002 - Tonight Minnesota's literary community will gather at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul to celebrate the years's top books. The 14th annual Minnesota Book Awards identifies the best in popular fiction, anthology, and children's literature among others. Minnesota book critic and independent book seller Brad Zellar says it says a lot about the state that so many small presses are competing.
April 12, 2002 - Former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky speaks at Minnetonka's Adath Jeshurun Congregation as a part of the Pen Pals Lecture series. Pinsky is perhaps best known for his 1994 translation of Dante's Inferno.
April 16, 2002 - Psychologist and best-selling author Mary Pipher speaks in St. Paul at a Ruminator Books event. Her new book is "The Middle of Nowhere: The World's Refugees Come to Our Town", a collection of personal stories from Lincoln, Nebraska.