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 25, 2009 - Veteran Dr. John Linner from Edina kept diaries of the fighting he saw during World War II, but after the war he put them on a shelf for 50 years, until his daughters and wife pressed him to write about his experiences. The result is a book, "From Normandy to Okinawa," Linner's look back at his Navy service as a medical doctor tending to the wounded on D-Day and in the Pacific.
May 26, 2009 - St. Paul architecture critic Larry Millett is out with TWO new guides to the Twin Cities this spring. They're pocket-sized guides that concentrate on two of Minnesota's most distinguished neighborhoods, the Lake District in Minneapolis and Summit Avenue in St. Paul.
June 2, 2009 - Best-selling author Michael Pollan, speaking at the Barnes & Noble at the Galleria in Edina about his book, "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto."
June 8, 2009 - Author Jane Hamilton is best known for books that depict tragedy and human frailty. She departs from that formula in her new novel, "Laura Rider's Masterpiece," a dark comedy about a bored wife with literary aspirations and her attempts to create art from life.
June 23, 2009 - Over the next year Twin Cities Theaters will present three plays by David Henry Hwang, perhaps best known for his show "M Butterfly." Euan Kerr reports the first work will give audiences a new look at the Asian American experience.
June 23, 2009 - The summer tourism season is upon us, and while the land of 10,000 Lakes has a lot to offer, commentator Peter Smith files this report from points west.
June 24, 2009 - Thomas Friedman speaks about crowded planet.Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Minnesota native, Thomas Friedman spoke at St. Paul RiverCentre about the big issues facing an interconnected global population, and the ways America can lead a green revolution in the 21st century.
June 30, 2009 - Well if that house were up in the Twin Cities today it wouldn't be generating much energy. It's cloudy with scattered sprinkles expected today. Highs are forecast to be just in the upper 60s maybe 70. Yesterday was also a cool day. Despite the recent run of below average temperatures, the air conditioning at commentator Peter Smith's house has been running non-stop. And he's not happy about it.
July 1, 2009 - MPR’s Euan Kerr talks with Garrison Keillor, who reflects on the early days of A Prairie Home Companion as the show reaches it’s 35-year anniversary.
July 6, 2009 - We talk about his ties to St. Paul