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Minnesota Book Award Authors in the News
“Austin Page Turners” Select Leif Enger for 2009 citywide reading event
December 15, 2008 – Minnesota author Leif Enger has been chosen as the featured author for the Austin Page Turners eighth annual citywide reading event. Mr. Enger will be in Austin, Minnesota, on Thursday, April 30, 2009, and give a presentation to the public at 7 p.m. at the Austin Public Library. READ MORE...
Taner Akcam appointed Chair at Clark University’s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
PanARMENIAN.Net, December 12, 2008 – Turkish scholar Taner Akcam has been appointed Chair at Clark University’s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Armenian Mirror Spectator reports. Because Akcam is Turkish and will teach, among other subjects, a course on the Armenian Genocide, his appointment in some circles is bound to be considered controversial. READ MORE...
In this age of Kindles and novels written on Twitter, a celebration of all that a bound book can be takes place at Open Book.
By Laurie Hertzel, Star Tribune, December 12, 2008 – Twenty years ago, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts unveiled its first winter book – “Staggerford’s Indian,” by Jon Hassler. It was produced in two limited editions, printed on handmade paper, and illustrated, designed and bound by local artists. The tradition continued, and now the center’s 20th winter book has been unveiled at Open Book: “Winter Ink,” a series of poems by Laotian-American poet Bryan Thao Worra. READ MORE…
“Fiction on a Stick” is a blue-ribbon collection of Minnesota writers
By Mary Ann Grossmann, Pioneer Press, December 10, 2008 – If you're looking for a reasonably priced holiday gift for someone who loves Minnesota literature, "Fiction on a Stick" might send you scampering for the gift-wrap. This new paperback anthology, commissioned by Minneapolis-based Milkweed Editions, is made up of 24 sad, funny, touching, intriguing and sometimes-unsettling stories by some of Minnesota's best writers. READ MORE...
Armenia, Diaspora, and Facing History
The scholar Taner Akçam, in an essay first published in Turkey’s Taraf, argues against the view that “good neighbor” Armenia and the “bad” diaspora have opposing views on the Armenian Genocide. It was only seven years ago, in February 2001, when his statement on a television program, that Turkey should apologize to Armenians, created a firestorm of sentiment against him. Now, retired Ambassador Volkan Vural repeated the same words and stated, "We should apologize," and not a single objection was raised. With the passage of time, Turkey seems to have made a lot of progress on the subject. READ MORE...A New Spin on 5,000-year-old Yoga
By Nick Sortal, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, November 26, 2008 — More than 800 people gathered recently for Yoga Journal magazine's Florida conference. There, Matthew Sanford showed his students the wonder in small details... He does it from a wheelchair. Paralyzed at age 13 in an automobile accident, Sanford, now 43, uses yoga "as a way to reconnect my mind and my body." READ MORE...
Activist encourages sustainability
Winona LaDuke proposes four harmonic principles to live by By Robert Scott, The Collegian — November 18, 2008. Saint Mary's College of California recently welcomed famed author, activist and environmentalist Winona LaDuke, who proposes that the U.S. should live by four main principles. "Change is in the hands of the individual." READ MORE…
Popular author reads, reveals grim future for beloved character
By Heather Edwards, Southwest Review News, November 17, 2008 - Speaking to a crowd of fans at Wentworth Library last week, local author William Kent Krueger was the bearer of bad news: his popular Cork O' Connor Mystery series may be drawing to a close. READ MORE...Acclaimed Minnesota authors to visit Carleton College
By Libby Nachman, Carleton News, November 11, 2008 — Acclaimed Minnesota authors Heid Erdrich, Sheila O’Connor, Shannon Olson, Wang Ping, and Faith Sullivan will discuss “Riding Shotgun: Women Write About Their Mothers” (Borealis Books, 2008) on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in Severance Great Hall as part of the Northfield Reads! community-wide book club. READ MORE…
Meteorologist to speak at Library event
The Gaylord Hub, November 5th, 2008 — Friends of the Gaylord Library will present “A Night with the Stars,” featuring Mike Lynch, WCCO meteorologist and author of the Minnesota Book Award-nominated book, Mike Lynch’s Minnesota Weatherwatch: A Complete Guide for Weather-Obsessed Minnesotans, on Monday, Nov. 10 at the Gaylord Public Library and Walsh Field. The public is invited. READ MORE…Food for the Soul and for the Belly
By Laurie Hertzel, Star Tribune, October 31, 2008 — Six notable writers from the University of Minnesota will read from recent works next week to raise money for foodshelves. Charles Baxter, author of "The Feast of Love," "The Soul Thief" and other novels, will be the host, accompanied by fellow writers and faculty members Julie Schumacher, Patricia Hampl, Michael Dennis Browne and Madelon Sprengnether. READ MORE…
Five Books for Parents of Teens
Star Tribune, October 31, 2008 — Julie Schumacher began writing adult fiction but found that she really enjoyed writing for younger adults. Her latest novel, "Black Box," is about a teenage girl's depression. Schumacher, who teaches creative writing at the University of Minnesota, shared what she calls "five books that might get your 14- to 18-year-old to talk to you." READ MORE…
Library Invites Crime Wave to Town
By Monica Isley, Lake County News Chronicle, October 30, 2008 — Most people, when they hear there's a crime wave in the making, head in the opposite direction. On Halloween, they'll be doing the opposite. They'll come looking for the Minnesota Crime Wave – William Kent Krueger, Ellen Hart and Carl Brookins – at the Community Center in Two Harbors. READ MORE...
Author Kate DiCamillo never shies away from a good story
By Mary Ann Grossmann, Pioneer Press, October 19, 2008 — Kate DiCamillo was flying from Minnesota to California for work – and she was terrified. “I’d gotten pulled into working on a screenplay of my novel Because of Winn-Dixie, and I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t know anything about writing screenplays,” DiCamillo recalls. “I was wishing I could be brave.” Then, out of nowhere, a line popped into DiCamillo’s head: “Louise longed to be brave.” READ MORE...
Will Weaver to speak at literacy conference at the College of Saint Benedict
A literacy conference featuring Minnesota Book Award winner Will Weaver is planned for Nov. 14, 2008 at CSB and SJU, in St. Joseph, MN.“Writing Central: A Day for Literacy at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University” is a state-wide event aimed at educators (grades K-12) to reach boys and get them to read and write. Weaver will speak on “Right Book, Right Kid, Right Time: Strategies for a 21st Century Literacy.” The northern Minnesota author is a former teacher at Bemidji State University who writes award-winning fiction for adults and young adults. READ MORE...
Authors Heid and Lise Erdrich to read at Bismarck State College
October 23, 2008 — Two of the three writing Erdrich sisters will be at Bismarck State College at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, to read from their works and discuss the BSC Campus Read book by Sherman Alexie, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." The program and book signing by Heid Erdrich and Lise Erdrich takes place in the Student Union. On Tuesday, Nov. 4, they will address BSC English classes. Heid and Lise, members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe, often appear together to discuss writing and their storytelling family, which includes sister and novelist, Louise Erdrich. READ MORE...
Kent Krueger to discuss his book
Bemidji Pioneer, October 23, 2008 — William Kent Krueger, the winner of numerous book awards, will discuss his book “For Love or Money: Six Reasons Why I Write” at 7 p.m. tonight at the Bemidji Public Library. READ MORE...
Influential author Tim O'Brien to discuss craft of writing at library series
By Michele Steinbacher, Bloomington, IL Pantagraph, October 23, 2008 — Tim O’Brien doesn’t like to categorize his writing as fiction or nonfiction. Both have a common thread anyway, said the author best known for his influential work The Things They Carried, which explores the lives of a U.S. platoon during the Vietnam War. “Almost every writer starts with real world experiences… It gives fiction better grounding,” said O’Brien, the man whom The San Francisco Chronicle has called “the best American writer of his generation.” READ MORE...
Blogs about the Minnesota Book Awards and MN Authors
You know what they say about opinions - and what they're like? Everyone has one, and we all think everyone else's stinks. But some of us just can't get enough news and opinion on topics of interest, or even passion. If you're one of us, here's a link to blogs about the Minnesota Book Awards. Are there others out there? Let us know and we'll try to include them.
The Outfit asks, "Hey, You Talkin' to Me?"
The Outfit is a collective of Chicago crime writers which includes: Sean Chercover, Barbara D'Amato, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Kevin Guilfoile, Libby Hellmann, Sara Paretsky and Marcus Sakey. Click here for an excerpt from a conversation for the PWA (Private Eye Writers of America) newsletter between authors Kent Krueger and Libby Hellmann.
Reviews and Other Opinions
Charles Baxter’s The Soul Thief
By Elisabeth Rosen, The Cornell Daily Sun - November 20, 2008 Being a university student in upstate New York can be an emotional experience, triggering binge drinking and even nervous breakdowns. This is not a personal confession, but a truth confirmed by Charles Baxter’s newest novel, The Soul Thief. The story offers a deeper understanding of the experience of becoming an adult that all readers will recognize. READ MORE…
Erdrich Gets to Heart of Characters' Truth
By Stacy Smith Segovia, The Leaf-Chronicle, November 13, 2008 – Louise Erdrich is a poet and a storyteller, and the two overlap at every turn. She says her desire as a writer is to tell her characters' truth. READ MORE...
Author Louise Erdrich Inspires in Her Reading of The Plague of Doves
By Colin Riley, The Quindecim, November 12, 2008 – I became caught up in the tale of a violin player, Shamengwa, who had his instrument stolen by a troubled youth, Corwin Peace. READ MORE…
The Professor’s Wife: The Life and Work of Louise Erdrich
Lorette C. Luzajic’s Fascinating Writers blog of November 2008: “The beauty of Love Medicine saves us from being devastated by its power,” said Toni Morrison of Louise Erdrich’s first novel, high praise from a writer who would soon win both a Nobel and a Pulitzer prize. READ MORE...
Red Knife a Clear-Cut Winner
Santa Ynez Valley Journal - The Bookworm, Terri Schlichenmeyer reviews Red Knife, by William Kent Krueger.
New Gay Mystery is "Sweet Poison" for the Ellen Hart Cult
By Jay Gabler, Twin Cities Daily Planet - November 02, 2008 – A few months ago, the Daily Planet received a galley of a forthcoming mystery novel: Sweet Poison, by local author Ellen Hart. I noticed the publicist’s accompanying letter, which called Hart “a top novelist in the cultishly popular gay mystery genre.” There’s a whole genre of gay mysteries? It’s cultishly popular? One of its top novelists lives in Minneapolis? What’s a “gay mystery,” anyway? My interest was piqued. READ MORE…
The Minnesota Book Awards is a Capital City project, led by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, in consortium with the Saint Paul Public Library and the Mayor’s office in the City of Saint Paul. Outreach partners for the Book Awards include the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA), the Minnesota Library Association (MLA), and the Minnesota Department of Education - State Library Services.