Repeatedly 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. This curation presents broadcasts over the decades of writer’s voices in form of speech, interview, and discussion.
May 29, 1981 - MPR’s Bob Aronson talks with Fred Friendly about his book Near vs. Minnesota - Minnesota Rag: The Dramatic Story of the Landmark Supreme Court Case That Gave New Meaning to Freedom of the Press. Friendly summarizes the history and impact of case.
June 20, 1981 - MPR’s Nancy Fushan interviews author Pamela Cumings about her book Widow's Walk: A Personal Journey Through Loss, Fear, Anger and Love.
July 5, 1981 - A Midday interview with economist and author John Kenneth Galbraith on his published autobiography, A Life in Our Times: Memoirs.
October 1, 1981 - Midday presents a National Town Meeting about the great American novel with authors Francine Gray and Larry McMurtry.
October 7, 1981 - MPR's Nancy Fushan interviews 1980 Nobel Prize for Literature winner Czeslaw Milosz. Born in Poland but now living and teaching in the United States, Milosz talks about his poetry, the United States, his native country of Poland, and writing.
October 31, 1981 - MPR’s Dale Connelly interviews Australian author Colleen McCullough about her book An Indecent Obsession and it’s potential adaptation to the screen. The book tells the story of a nurse who works in a psychiatric ward for World War II soldiers and develops a forbidden attraction to a new, highly decorated patient.
November 7, 1981 - MPR’s Dale Connelly talks with author Paul Dickson about his book The Official Rules, which examines humorous cynical laws and statements.
November 13, 1981 - MPR's Mary Anne Tapp talks with playwright Edward Albee about theater, his work, and the Chimera's recent production of his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
November 19, 1981 - A Midday broadcast of Dr. Rollo May, author, psychologist, and theologian speaking to the Westminster Town Hall Forum on love, creativity, freedom, anxiety, and death.
December 2, 1981 - Marilyn French, feminist writer and novelist, shares her thoughts on writing, the feminist movement, and society.