Hello All,
In the home that this finds you healthy, well and employed, we now return to our regularly scheduled books, stories, poem and so on.
Wishing you all the best for the summer!
Sincerely,
Lester
NEWS
The State Arts Board announces new grants.
The Summer issue of Rain Taxi is out.
St. Paul woman looks to launch the only Black-owned bookstore in Minnesota (Star Tribune)
After George Floyd, Minnesota fights racism with free books and films (Star Tribune)
Artists, activists, authors contribute to anthology ‘A Moment of Silence’ (Pioneer Press)
Two Minnesota book artists get a boost from a new $25K award (Star Tribune)
Minnesota roots inform genuine but ‘quirky’ new novel (Pioneer Press)
Mayo Clinic employee became main character in new James Patterson novel (Star Tribune)
Kevin Costner, Diane Lane star in movie based on Wisconsin writer Larry Watson’s book (Pioneer Press)
NONFICTION STORIES
Every Decision Is A Risk. Every Risk Is A Decision, by Maggie Koerth (538)
Performing Whiteness, by Sarah Bellamy (Paris Review)
Masks Off: How the Brothers Who Fueled the Reopen Protests Built a Volatile Far-Right Network, by Mara Hvistendahl (The Intercept)
Feeling Hopeless? Embrace It. And then take action, Eric Utne (NYT)
This Is Not a Test, by Barrett Swanson (Harper’s)
The Gear to Carry on Your Bikepacking Adventure, by Stephanie Pearson (Wired) Pearson
What My Kids Learned When They Weren’t in School, by Frank Bures (The Atlantic)
NONFICTION BOOKS
Rachel Pieh Jones’s Welcome to Djibouti: Arrive, Survive, and Thrive in the Hottest Country on Earth was published in December.
Wendy Brown-Baez’s Heart on the Page: A Portable Writing Workshop was published in Feburary.
Carolyn Holbrook’s Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify: Essays was published in May.
Scott Dominic Carpenter’s French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris, was published in July.
Eric Utne’s Far Out Man: Tales of Life in the Counterculture was published in July.
Reid Forgrave’s Love, Zac: Small-Town Football and the Life and Death of an American Boy will be published in September.
Black in the Middle: An Anthology of the Black Midwest, edited by Terrion L. Williamson, will be published in September.
Kao Kalia Yang’s Somewhere in the Unknown World: A Collective Refugee Memoir will be published in October.
Bill Souder’s Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck will be published in October.
Kermit Pattison’s Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind will be published in November.
Natalie Warren’s Hudson Bay Bound: Two Women, One Dog, Two Thousand Miles to the Arctic will be published in November.
FICTION:
Kathleen West’s Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes was published in February.
Curtis Sittenfeld’s Rodham is being developed by Hulu. She was also interviewed by Judy Blume.
Mary Logue’s The Streel: A Deadwood Mystery was published in May .
Thomas D. Peacock’s The Wolf's Trail: An Ojibwe Story, Told by Wolves, was published in June.
Paul John Scott’s Malcharist was published in July.
Gretchen Anthony The Kids Are Gonna Ask was published in July.
Peter Geye’s Northernmost will be published in August.
David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s Winter Counts will be published in August.
Thomas Maltman’s The Land will be published in October.
Lin Enger’s American Gospel will be published in October.
Rachel Swearingen’s How to Walk on Water and Other Stories will be published in October.
Charles Baxter’s The Sun Collective will be published in November.
PB/MG/YA
Lindsey McDivitt’s Truth and Honor: The President Ford Story was published in July. Her Nature's Friend: The Gwen Frostic Story was also published in July.
Aimée M. Bissonette’s Dragonfly will be published in September. Her The Tinaja Tonight will also publish in September.
A young eyewitness to George Floyd's killing is writing a children's book (Star Tribune)
POETRY
Interview with Su Hwang in Rain Taxi.
Diane Glancy’s Island of the Innocent: A Consideration of the Book of Job was published in June.
Richard Terrill’s What Falls Away Is Always: Poems and Conversations, will be published in September.
Heid E. Erdrich’s Little Big Bully will be published in October.
Michael Torres’ An Incomplete List of Names will be published in October.
GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS:
Ben Percy has a new comics series out called Devil's Highway, drawn by Minnesota artist Brent Schoonover.