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.
April 1, 1992 - MPR’s Beth Friend talks with author Robert Olen Butler about his book, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. The short story collection captures the Vietnamese immigrant experience in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. In segment, Butler reads a passage from book.
April 8, 1992 - Worldview’s Mike Maus completes a phone interview with Tennessee U.S. Senator Al Gore about global warming and earth’s environment. Gore has released the book on the subject, entitled Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit.
April 10, 1992 - American writer and orator Gish Jen discusses her book, Typical American, which explores the immigrant experience of the Chang family as pursue the American dream, amongst the tension of traditional Chinese values and adapting to American life.
April 11, 1992 - An interview with Harriet Beinfield about Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine, a book about Chinese medicine that she co-authored. Acupuncture, herbs and Eastern medicine philosophy are discussed.
April 14, 1992 - An interview with Marjorie Dorner about her book, Winter Roads, Summer Fields: Stories. Many of the pieces in collection are based on stories she grew up with on a dairy farm outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
April 14, 1992 - MPR’s Mike Edgerly completes an interview with Studs Terkel on race and American history.
April 16, 1992 - Worldview’s Mike Maus talks with travel writer Deanna Swaney on writing numerous Lonely Planet publications, including those for Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia.
April 18, 1992 - Magazine editor and author Aubrey Edwards is interviewed about Children of the Dream: The Psychology of Black Success, a book she co-authored.
April 21, 1992 - Midday presents a keynote speech by playwright August Wilson, entitled "Odyssey of an African in America," for the Minnesota Alumni Association annual meeting. In speech, Wilson comments on his appreciation for St. Paul, his former home.
April 22, 1992 - A Midmorning interview with author Lynne S. Dumas about her book, Talking With Your Child About a Troubled World. Topics in discussion include age appropriate dialog, AIDS, death in a family, and race.