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.
September 4, 1993 - MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews Minnesota author and pop culture expert Karal Ann Marling about random facts on the Minnesota State Fair. Topics include the lack-luster quality of prizes in the Midway, the Ferris wheel, and butter sculpture.
September 10, 1993 - An interview with local sports agent and author Ron Simon about his book, The Game Behind the Game: Negotiating in the Big Leagues.
September 16, 1993 - MPR’s Liz Hannon talks with St. Paul author Greg Mulcahy about getting published and his collected fiction debut, titled Out Of Work: Stories and Novella.
September 18, 1993 - Minnesota poet Joe Paddock provides an environmental commentary on the essense of the land.
September 23, 1993 - MPR’s Perry Finelli interviews Ray Crump, former Twins equipment manager, about Beneath the Grandstands. The book contains a collection of baseball stories of Crump's life growing up as a bat boy for the Washington Senators and then moving to Minnesota to become the Minnesota Twins first equipment manager.
September 24, 1993 - Patricia Weaver Francisco reads a segment of her book, Telling: A Memoir of Rape and Recovery. In the book, Francisco discusses her rape and the long healing process.
September 27, 1993 - Minnesota librarians Cheryl Anderson and Francis MacDonald talk about censorship in libraries and public places, especially in Minnesota.
September 27, 1993 - Janet Hagberg, a Minneapolis-based artist, provides commentary on The Silent Witness Exhibit. The art installation is created by the Arts Action Against Domestic Violence, an ad hoc group of women artists and writers in Minnesota.
September 29, 1993 - Concluding an MPR month-long examination of sexual violence against women, Midday presents a special live broadcast from MPR's Studio M, where a varied panel discuss the issue.
September 29, 1993 - In this Midmorning segment, Patricia Weaver Francisco and Signe Nestingen talk about their experiences writing about the rape as a way to understand their experiences.