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.
November 24, 2005 - Former Star Tribune columnist Jim Klobuchar talks about his book “Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset," which collects some of essays about Minnesota, Uganda, politics and courtship.
November 24, 2005 - This year's edition of "Giving Thanks" includes music, poetry, stories and much more. One highlight is a rare recording of Charles Laughton in which the actor connects his personal discovery of Chartres Cathedral with an excerpt from Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums" and the 104th Psalm.
November 29, 2005 - MPR’s Jayne Solinger visits with former members of the Grand Meadow girls’ basketball team, as they join together to commemorate the release of the book Daughters of the Game - The First Era of Minnesota Girls High School Basketball, 1891-1942. The former basketball players, who are now beyond 80 years old, look back at an era in which the school’s girls’ teams compiled a 94-0 record between 1929 and 1939.
December 3, 2005 - Michael Segell discusses his book "The Devil's Horn"
December 3, 2005 - Peter Levinson author of "Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way "
December 5, 2005 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Brian Horrigan, editor of the book “Christmas In Minnesota.” Some of the Minnesota's best-known writers share memoires and stories from the holidays in Minnesota.
December 9, 2005 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports on Cheng-Khee Chee, one of Minnesota's best-known watercolor artists, who has published a book for children. It's called "Noel," and it's a free-flowing poem by Tony Johnston about the sights and sounds of an old-fashioned Christmas. Hemphill talked with the artist about the technique he used to convey the magic of an evening full of snow and Christmas bells.
December 12, 2005 - A private burial is planned Wednesday in Woodville, Virginia, for former Minnesota Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy, who died Saturday at age 89. A memorial service is also being planned early next year at St. John's University in Collegeville. McCarthy was one of the state's most distinguished politicians. He served two terms in the U.S. Senate, and before that five terms in the House of Representatives. McCarthy's political zenith came in 1968, when opposition to the Vietnam War turned into a crusade to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. McCarthy didn't win. But his candidacy, and the 1968 campaign, left lasting imprints on American politics.
December 12, 2005 - MPR’s Tom Crann interviews Emerson College literature professor Daniel Tobin about Eugene McCarthy’s poetry.
December 12, 2005 - Politicians of both parties are remembering former Democratic U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy for his activism and public service. McCarthy died Saturday in Washington, D.C. He was 89. McCarthy served two terms in the U.S. Senate, and before that five terms in the House of Representatives. But his political zenith came in 1968, when he challenged President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic party nomination. McCarthy didn't win, but his opposition to the Vietnam War turned into a crusade that led to Johnson's withdrawl from the race. Former South Dakota Senator George McGovern was a friend of McCarthy and another opponent of the war.