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 14, 2003 - It's a tale that's become familiar. A small independent business -- faced with online and big box competition -- struggles to stay afloat. But that's not the whole story of St. Paul's Ruminator Books. The independent bookseller has shrunk its inventory and laid off half its staff in the past couple of years, and authors from across the country are rallying to the store's aid by contributing items for an upcoming online auction. David Unowsky has owned the bookstore for 33 years. He says competition from the national chains has been a factor, but not the only reason the Ruminator is in dire straits.
October 16, 2003 - On this Midday, author and former columnist Jim Klobuchar talks with MPR’s Gary Eichten about his adventures, life in Minnesota, and his recent books.
October 20, 2003 - A Twin Cities speech by Al Franken, author of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right". He spoke at an event sponsored by Ruminator Books in St. Paul.
October 20, 2003 - One man's train is another man's paperback. Little Canada resident Paul Lareau says he couldn't live in a world without books. And he's making sure no one else has to either. The 61-year-old computer analyst, and former librarian, is part of a growing international movement called BookCrossing. The group's members place books in public places in hopes that others will pick them up, give them a read, and then leave them for someone else to enjoy. Over the last few months, Lareau has released more than 3000 books into the world -- abandoning them everywhere from coffee shops to roadside rest stops. He says the goal of the BookCrossing movement is to create a free book exchange of infinite proportions.
October 23, 2003 - In her latest book "Where No Gods Came," Minnesota author Sheila O'Connor tells the story of 12-year-old Faina McCoy, who is sent to Minneapolis to live with the alcoholic mother who abandoned her years ago. Feeling alone in a strange neighborhood, Faina discovers she's responsible for taking care of her chronically ill mother.
October 30, 2003 - MPR’s Steve Nelson reports on St. Paul being the center of an emerging group of Hmong writers. That's may not seem all that remarkable, until you consider that Hmong people had no written language at all until 1952. Before then, Hmong story-telling relied on oral traditions. Now, writers in St. Paul are turning those stories into literature and history.
November 13, 2003 - Former Minnesota Democratic U.S. senator and former Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy in the MPR studios with Gary Eichten to talk about politics and current events. McCarthy discusses the state of the DFL, polarization of the parties, war, his 1968 campaign, and also answers listener questions.
November 21, 2003 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles The Commissioning Club, a local performing arts organizations that commissions new music. Roberts interviews numerous supporters of club to better understand it’s purpose and process.
November 27, 2003 - In a special annual program hosted by Minnesota Public Radio's John Birge, Giving Thanks combines traditional fare with unexpected delights. This year, the program features Wendy Wasserstein, Donald Hall, and highlights from the Broadway production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.
November 28, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Tim Post reports on the new tale "Old Turtle and the Broken Truth" from central Minnesota author Douglas Wood. The turtle reappears 11 years after its first appearance.