Over the last decade, The Friends has developed a number of annual program series or events. Listed below are our annual events with a brief description. Please check the calendar for the time and location of events.

FRIENDS COORDINATED SERIES
Chicano & Latino Writers Festival
Fireside Literary Readings
Central Library Noon Book Chats
Untold Stories: Labor History

FRIENDS CO-SPONSORED EVENTS
Minnesota Book Awards
O'Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry
Twin Cities Jewish Book Festival
Saint Paul Reads: Citywide Book Club
Women’s Human Rights Film Series

FRIENDS COORDINATED SERIES

Chicano & Latino Writers Festival

Now in its 10th year, the Chicano and Latino Writers Festival features local and national writers. Featured authors in past years have included Isabel Allende, Esmeralda Santiago, Luis Rodriguez and Juan Felipe Herrera, as well as nationally recognized Minnesota writers such as Ray Gonzalez, Sandra Benitez and George Rabasa. The Festival also includes a program with high school writers and a Day of the Dead event.

Fireside Literary Readings Now in its 14th season, the Fireside series is one of The Friends' oldest and most popular events. The series annually highlights the work of some of Minnesota's finest writers who have published a new work in the previous year. Past readers have included Heid Erdrich, Alexs Pate, Faith Sullivan, Lorna Landvik, Carol Bly, Pete Hautman, John Coy, Jack Weatherford, Ellen Hart and Kate DiCamillo.

The author readings take place in the cozy atmosphere in front of the hearth at the Hamline Midway Branch Library and include free coffee, cider and cookies. Fireside readings occur from late January through February. The Fireside series is co-sponsored by Micawber's Books. Complimentary book signings accompany the readings. 2008 Schedule: Thursday, January 31: Bill Holm, Windows of Brimnes Thursday, February 7: Lise Erdrich, Night Train Thursday, February 14: Wing Young Huie, Looking for Asian America Thursday, February 21: Sun Yung Shin, Skirt Full of Black Wednesday, February 27: Mary Logue, Maiden Rock

Central Library Noon Book Chats

Join The Friends for a series of informal, friendly discussions with local authors and moderators about a variety of books: mysteries, local history, baseball books and more. The book chats are held in Zelda Coffee at Central Library on Wednesdays at noon from September through April; free coffee is provided, and book chat attendees are welcome to pick up a lunch at Zelda's or bring a bag lunch. Click here for calendar of Noon Book Chats

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Untold Stories: A Celebration of Labor History
In celebration of labor history month each May, the Untold Stories series presents programs and talks on both local and national labor history topics. Past programs in the series have featured historian Robin D.G. Kelley, singer Larry Long, author Cheri Register, and walking tours by local historian Dave Riehle. The series received the 2003 John Sessions Memorial Award from the American Library Assocation for service to the labor community.

Click here for calendar of Untold Stories programs and events in 2008.

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FRIENDS CO-SPONSORED EVENTS

Minnesota Book Awards

The Minnesota Book Awards is an annual awards program that recognizes, honors, and celebrates Minnesota's finest writers, illustrators, editors and publishers. Since 1988, nearly 1,000 Minnesota-written books have been Minnesota Book Award finalists, representing what some call "the best reading list in Minnesota."

The founding organization and a supporter of the Awards since its inception, The Friends took on the lead coordination role for the Book Awards, working through the Capital City consortium, a partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library and the Office of the Mayor of Saint Paul.  Building on a strong Book Awards tradition of outreach throughout Minnesota, the Capital City consortium also is collaborating with the state’s many literary and library networks, including the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA).

2006 winners were announced at the 19th Annual Minnesota Book Awards event on Saturday, May 5, 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel – Saint Paul Riverfront.  The 20th Annual Minnesota Book Awards will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2008. Tickets will go on sale in February. For a list of previous Minnesota Book Award finalists and winners, please go to http://www.thefriends.org/mba_winners

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Lawrence M. O'Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry
The Lawrence M. O'Shaughnessy Award for Poetry is presented annually to a contemporary Irish poet by the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas. This internationally noted award was presented in April, 2006 to Dennis O'Driscoll. Each year for the past five years, The Friends has proudly co-sponsored a series of public events featuring the O'Shaughnessy Award-winning poets. Most of the readings or other events occur on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas or in one of the branches of the Saint Paul Public Library.

The winner of the 10th annual award, O’Driscoll was born in Thurles, County Tipperary, in 1954. His poetry collections include Kist (1982), Hidden Extras (1987), Long Story Short (1993), Quality Time (1997), Weather Permitting (2001) and Exemplary Damages (2004). In 2004, Anvil Press of London issued his retrospective New and Selected Poems. He also has written a book of prose, Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams (2001), and has edited the Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations, to be published later this year.

O’Driscoll’s poetry is distinguished by its alertness to realities of life in contemporary Ireland, particularly its embrace of consumer culture. Irish Times literary correspondent Ellen Battersby wrote, “It takes a special genius to see the real and important lurking in the mundanely routine. … This most astute of poets juxtaposes the soul of the artist with the exactness of the anthropologist; the result is work of meditative intelligence, humour and forgiving humanity.”

O’Driscoll has worked as a civil servant since he was 16 and now works in the Customs Office of the Irish Department of Revenue. The recipient of several poetry prizes, including the Lannan Literary Award in the United States and the 2005 E.M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, O’Driscoll was elected to Aosdána, the Irish academy of arts and letters, in February.

Previous winners of the O'Shaughnessy Award are Eavan Boland, John F. Deane, Peter Sirr, Louis de Paor,  Moya Cannon, Frank Orsmby, Thomas McCarthy, Michael Coady and Kerry Hardie.

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Twin Cities Jewish Book Festival
Each fall, the Jewish Community Center of the Greater St. Paul Area (JCC) presents an extensive festival featuring nationally renowned books and authors. The Twin Cities Jewish Book Festival is co-sponsored by a number of other community groups, including The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. The majority of the Festival events occur at the JCC, but for a number of years, one or more of the programs have also been featured at the Saint Paul Public Library, usually at the Highland Park Branch Library.

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Saint Paul Reads: Citywide Book Club

	Saint Paul Reads is a program of Saint Paul Public Schools, and is co-sponsored by the City of Saint Paul, the Saint Paul Public Library and The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library.

On Monday, December 4, 2006, Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Saint Paul Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and Saint Paul Public Library Director Melanie Huggins announced their choices for the Saint Paul Reads Citywide Book Club. For adults and secondary students, they chose The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, a Minnesota native.  A finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, this sly, almost hallucinatory book is neither memoir nor novel nor collection of short stories, but rather an artful combination of all three.

In addition to the adult/seconday book, they recommended six other books by Minnesota authors for younger students—The Birchbark House by award-winning author Louise  Erdrich, and the following picture books:
On the Day You Were Born, by Debra Frasier;
The Best Pet of All, by David LaRochelle;
Children of Vietnam, by Marybeth Lorbiecki;
If You Want to See a Caribou, by Phyllis Root; and
Song of the Water Boatman, by Joyce Sidman.

The Birchbark House, Erdrich's first novel for children centers on young orphan, Omakayas and her adoptive Ojibwa family who live on Madeline Island in Lake Superior in 1847. Readers will be riveted by this brave, intuitive girl and the daily life of this Native American family, in which tanning moose hides, picking berries, and scaring crows from the cornfield are as commonplace as encounters with bear cubs and fireside ghost stories.

“The idea this year that the Saint Paul Reads Citywide Book Clubs rallied around was our school district’s 150th anniversary,” Dr. Carstarphen said, “so the book selection committee chose as its theme Minnesota authors.”
Last year, Saint Paul Reads chose A Place Where the Sea Remembers, by local author Sandra Benitez, for adult readers, and Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, for young readers. For more information about the program, visit www.saintpaulreads.org.

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Women’s Human Rights Film Series
Free and open to the public. All films begin at 7 p.m. and take place in St. Paul.

Again this year, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights is partnering with The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library to present the Women's Human Rights Film Series.  Six films focusing on global issues in women's human rights will be screened from October through March of 2008 at various Saint Paul Public Library branches; each will be followed by a discussion led by a Minnesota Advocates staff member.

October 23, 7 p.m.
Enemies of Happiness
St. Anthony Park Branch Library, 2245 Como Avenue, Saint Paul
In September 2005, Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections in 35 years. Among the candidates for 249 assembly seats was Malalai Joya, a courageous, controversial 27-year-old woman who ignited outrage among hard-liners when she spoke out against corrupt warlords at the Grand Council of tribal elders in 2003. An award-winning film, Enemies of Happiness is a revelatory portrait of this extraordinary freedom fighter and the way she won the hearts of voters, as well as a snapshot of life and politics in war-torn Afghanistan.
Also screening at the Humphrey Center, U of M, November 7 at 5 p.m.

November 28, 7 p.m.
Journey to Safety
Rice Street Branch Library, 1011 Rice Street, Saint Paul
Journey to Safety is an artistic portrayal of the challenges facing battered immigrant and refugee women when negotiating legal, medical, and government systems.  The filmed performance by Pangea World Theater is based on a 2004 report issued by Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, and is followed by interviews with police, policy-makers, legal and medical professionals, and others working to overcome the barriers battered immigrant women face.
Also screening at the Humphrey Center, U of M, December 5 at 5 p.m.

December 13, 7 p.m.
Killer’s Paradise
Riverview Branch Library, 1 E. George Street, Saint Paul
In this powerful film, an award-winning team of filmmakers document the story of the brutal killings of women in Guatemala. Since 1999, more than 2,000 women have been murdered there, with the numbers rising every year. Killer’s Paradise documents the story of Claudina Isabel Velasquez, a 19-year-old law student murdered in 2005, as her family urges the authorities to investigate who killed her.
Also screening at the Humphrey Center, U of M, January 30 at 5:30 p.m.

January 17, 7 p.m.
Crimes of Honour
Merriam Park Branch Library, 1831 Marshall Avenue, Saint Paul
Across the Islamic world, hundreds of women are shot, stabbed, strangled or burned to death each year by their male relatives, because they are thought to have dishonored their families by engaging in unacceptable relationships. Filmed in Jordan and on the West Bank, Crimes of Honour captures the horrific tragedy of this practice, examines the wider societal response, and highlights the work of three women fighting to end the violence.
Also screening at the Humphrey Center, U of M, February 27 at 5:30 p.m.

February 13, 7 p.m.
Not For Sale and So Deep a Violence
Highland Park Branch Library, 1974 Ford Parkway, Saint Paul
Not For Sale and So Deep A Violence are two compelling short films that address prostitution as violence against women and the links between prostitution and trafficking. These films, produced by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, go beyond the myths about prostitution and sex trafficking to demonstrate clear harm and explore what the world needs to do about this massive violation of women’s human rights.
Also screening at the Humphrey Center, U of M, March 6 at 12:45 p.m.

March 4, 7 p.m.
View From a Grain of Sand
Arlington Hills Branch Library, 1105 Greenbrier Street, Saint Paul
View From a Grain of Sand is a journey through the last 30 years of Afghanistan’s history as lived by three Afghan women. Shot in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a doctor, teacher and social activist tell how their lives were violently affected by wars of international making. Yet through all their loss, and the destruction of their homes and country, these women have endured. With courage, conviction and hope, they continue working to improve the lives of the people around them, against all odds, in this brutalized and divided nation.
Also screening at the Humphrey Center, U of M, March 11 at 12:45 p.m.

Sign language interpretation and other accommodations are available with advance notice.  To request this service, contact The Friends at 651-222-3242 or friends@thefriends.org.

For more information, contact Mary Hunt at 612-341-3302, ext. 107, mhunt@mnadvocates.org, or visit The Friends at www.thefriends.org.

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