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.
October 15, 2002 - Long-time award-winning journalist Sam Donaldson shares his thoughts about the president, violence in the Middle East and war with Iraq in a speech he gave Sunday night at Temple Israel in Minneapolis. He is the author of the book, "Hold On Mr. President."
October 15, 2002 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Mai Nemg Moua, author and editor of "Bamboo Among the Oaks: Contemporary Writing by Hmong-Americans," which features stories, poems and essays written by the first generation of Hmong to grow up in the United States. It is the first Hmong anthology ever published.
October 21, 2002 - The latest installment of our Voices of Minnesota series featuring ornithologist Harrison Tordoff and nature photographer Jim Brandenburg.
October 29, 2002 - Artists, art lovers and art critics all have reputation for being, well, a little snobbish, self-involved, you know what I mean. In an act of great self awareness, a group of artists have put on a new musical that takes a long, hard, yet hilarious look at the artistic life. Halfcast Productions presents "Artist in Trouble," a musical satire of the business of art and the various characters involved.
November 8, 2002 - Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman talks to Gary Eichten about the situation in the middle east, terrorism, and other global issues. He is the author of a new book, "Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11."
November 8, 2002 - The stage at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis will light up again tonight for the first show since the historic theater went dark in 1984. Backed by the city of Minneapolis, theater investors have restored much of the elaborate plaster detail of the building's original 1916 decor. Supporters say it's a hopeful step toward establishing a vibrant theater district on Hennepin Avenue.
November 12, 2002 - Wendy Wasserstein wrote several such very popular plays, including "The Heidi Chronicles," which won both a Tony award and the Pulitzer Prize in the original play category. She was the first woman to win in that category. She's also taught at Columbia, Princeton, and New York University, and has been a contributing editor to numerous magazines including "Harper's Bazaar." A couple of weeks ago, Wendy Wasserstein spoke at the Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka.
November 25, 2002 - Westminster Town Hall Forum speech by Parker Palmer, best-selling author of "Let Your Life Speak," "The Courage to Teach," and "The Company of Strangers." He speaks on the country's increasing diversity, and how to welcome the new without losing the old.
November 27, 2002 - Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports on The Peshtigo Fire, which wiped out the booming mill town of Peshtigo Wisconsin, just north of Green Bay. About two thousand people died.
December 3, 2002 - Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel, speaking recently at the Mayo Clinic about terrorism and how 9/11 changed America. He now teaches at Boston University and is the President and Founder of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.