Literary calendar for week of Feb. 18

Mary Ann Grossmann, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read
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CATHY COATS: Presents “To Banish Forever: A Secret Society, the Ho-Chunk, and Ethic Cleansing in Minnesota.” 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

DAVID LA VAQUE: Discusses “Tourney Time: Stories from the Minnesota Boys’ State Hockey Tournament,” revised and updated, written with L.R. Nelson. The book is filled with stories from the Minnesota boys high school hockey state tournament gathered through more than 400 first-hand recollections from former players, coaches, referees and others. Going back to the inaugural competition in 1945, the tournament has produced drama on and off the ice. First published in 2020, the book takes readers year by year through the tournament, highlighting the key games, the backstories and the players who made each game shine. The authors also offer a detailed history of one of the nation’s greatest high school sports events and one of Minnesota’s most cherished institutions. La Vaque is a reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Nelson is founder of Legacy Hockey. Noon Saturday, Feb. 24, Strauss Skates and Bicycle, 1751 Cope Ave., Maplewood.

BEN O’ROURKE: Presents “We’ve Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible.” 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

MARK HAYES PEACOCK: Reads from “Six Short Stories.” 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, Amery Area Public Library, Amery, Wis.

MINNESOTA MYSTERY NIGHT: Features Milwaukee-based, award-winning author Nick Petrie in conversation with Minnesota master of mysteries William Kent Krueger. Petrie will discuss his eighth thriller in the Pete Ash series, “The Price You Pay,” featuring a war veteran struggling with PTSD. Krueger’s most recent novels are “The River We Remember” and “Fox Creek,” 19th in his series featuring northern Minnesota lawman Cork O’Connor. Sunday, Feb. 18. Free. Axel’s Restaurant, 1318 Sibley Memorial Highway, Mendota. Attendees can have dinner at 5 p.m. Reservations at 651-686-4841.

READINGS BY WRITERS: Spotlights poets Julie Gard, Patrick Cabello Hansel, Sheila Packa and Michael Kleeber Diggs, hosted by Tim Nolan. Free. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, University Club, 420 Summit Ave., St. Paul.

WALTER NATHAN WINNERS: Jan Beatty and Esinam Bedliako give a virtual reading as winners of the University of Minnesota’s Walter Nathan Literary Initiatives writing contests. They will be honored at the third annual Celebrating Great River Review, a university graduate student literary magazine. Presented via Zoom by the University of Minnesota Department of English spring 2024 UMN English Writers series. 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Free and open to the public. For information go to cla.umn.edu/english/news-events/events/great-river-review-reading.

What else is going on

“Man O’ War” by Cory McCarthy is St. Paul Public Library’s title for the new Read Brave citywide book club that invites teens, their families and community members to read the same young adult book and have conversations about issues important to the city. “Man O’ War,” a recipient of the American Library Association’s Stonewall honor, follows the story of River McIntyre, an Irish Lebanese-American trans teen on a journey of self-discovery within the confines of a small Midwestern town over the span of several years. Residents can get a copy of the novel at any St. Paul library. Print copies, e-books and audiobooks are available for checkout. The library will also drop books around St. Paul at grocery stores, barber shops, parks and other community gathering places. Events pertaining to the book will be held March 18-24 throughout St. Paul libraries, including a panel discussion at 5:30 p.m. March 21 at Arlington Hills library featuring St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and the author, who is on leave from the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Just in time for Black History Month, HarperCollins is publishing for young readers a new edition of Zora Neale Hurston’s acclaimed “Barracoon,” which came out in 2018, 87 years after it was written. It became an international bestseller, telling the true story of 86-year-old enslaved Cudjo Lewis, then the only person alive to tell of his capture and bondage 50 years after the Atlantic human trade was outlawed in the U.S. He shared his firsthand account with Hurston, legendary folklorist, anthropologist and writer.

Mona Susan Power shares via Facebook that her 1994 debut novel, “The Grass Dancer,” will be released in an electronic version, 30 years after it was first published. “…interest has spiked in ‘The Grass Dancer’ once again,” she writes. That might be partly because her latest novel, “A Council of Dolls,” is a Minnesota Book Award finalist. And former Minnesotan Ellen Hawley’s novel “A Decent World” is now out in paperback.

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