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, 1992 - MPR’s Paula Schroeder interviews author Martha Hellander about her book, The Wild Gardener: The Life and Selected Writings of Eloise Butler. Hellander shares various biographical details on Butler and the creation of The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary in Minneapolis.
May 29, 1992 - On this Voices from the Heartland segment, author Laurie Allmann reads her essay on a big woods walk.
June 5, 1992 - MPR’s Kitty Eisle interviews Howard Sivertson, a Grand Marais artist and author of "Once Upon an Isle: The Story of Fishing Families on Isle Royale." Sivertson details the past of Isle Royale fishermen.
June 10, 1992 - Midmorning’s Paula Schroeder interviews award-winning journalist Ron Handberg about his novel, Savage Justice. Karen Boros, who was a former colleague of Handberg’s, also joins discussion.
June 12, 1992 - On this Voices from the Heartland segment, storyteller Richard Siemers, who now lives in southern Minnesota, shares a tale from his youth in rural South Dakota.
June 19, 1992 - On this Voices from the Heartland segment, storyteller Sarah Meybaum reads a childhood recollection from her South Dakota homestead.
June 20, 1992 - Midday presents Minnesota writer Paul Gruchow giving a talk in Southwestern Minnesota as part of “The Fulda Project: Old Stories and New Meanings" lecture series.
June 22, 1992 - MPR’s Paula Schroeder talks with rural poets Mark Vinz and Ron Block about how the regional landscape shapes their work. Both read poems during segment.
June 22, 1992 - Verlyn Anderson, director of the Concordia College Library and professor of Scandinavian Studies and History; and Hiram Drache, writer and professor of History at Concordia College-Moorhead, discuss the institution’s unique status as it celebrates 100 years.
June 22, 1992 - On this Voices from the Heartland segment, storyteller Sarah Meybaum, who now resides in Minnesota, shares an impactful childhood experience in rural South Dakota.