Literary calendar for week of Jan. 28
DIANE GOTTLIEB: Joins contributors to “Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness” for a reading. 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.
CARY GRIFFITH: Discusses “Gunflint Falling,” creative nonfiction about the 1999 great tree blowdown in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, told from the viewpoint of campers, resort owners, medical teams and Forest Service personnel who lived through the historic event. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls. Registration required. Go to magersandquinn.com/events.
BRIAN D. KENNEDY: Presents “My Fair Brady,” a rom-com reimagining “My Fair Lady” in which two teen boys fall in love after one asks the other to help him become more popular. With Jenna Miller (“Out of Character”). 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul.
LITERARY BRIDGES: Accomplished poets read, including Deborah Keenan, Ed Bok Lee, Hawona Sullivan Janzen and Jim Moore. Free. 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.
LITERATURE LOVERS’ NIGHT OUT: Presents Andrew Graff (“True North”), Laura Zigman (“Small World”), Beth Dooley (“The Perennial Kitchen: Simple Recipes for a Healthy Future”), and Jody Lulich (“In the Company of Grace”), hosted by Pamela Klinger-Horn, sponsored by Valley Bookseller of Stillwater. 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, Lowell Inn, 102 Second St. N., Stillwater. Seating is limited to 100. $15 per person. Go to valleybookseller.com.
RAYMOND LUCZAK: Minnesota poet introduces his collection “Far From Atlantis,” which uses traditional poetic forms to tell the stories of two worlds: the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the fabled island of Atlantis. He has written and edited more than 30 books, including prose titles such as “A Quiet Foghorn: More Notes from a Deaf Gay Life,” and the award-winning deaf gay novel “Men with Their Hands.” In Friends of the St. Paul Public Library’s free Fireside Reading series. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, Rondo Community Library, 461 N. Dale St., St. Paul. Also available via Zoom. For registration information, go to thefriends.org.
JEREMY NORTON: Minneapolis fire captain and EMT discusses his memoir “Trauma Sponges.” 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.
ANGELA RODEL: Translator presents “The Case of Cem” by Vera Mutafchieva in conversation with Rain Taxi Review publisher Eric Lorberer. 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.
What else is going on
Metropolitan Library Service Agency has announced the spring season of Club Book, which brings prominent authors to metro-area libraries. This season includes novelists Cristina Henriquez and Tommy Orange, and historical fiction writers ReShonda Tate, Melanie Benjamin and Alice Winn. These events are free and open to the public and no registration is required. The virtual programs will be shown in real time via Facebook. Here is the schedule:
March 7: ReShona Tate, Wildwood Library, Mahtomedi (in-person)
March 18: Tommy Orange, Prior Lake Library (in-person)
March 19: John Scalzi, Carver County Library (virtual)
April 8: Nita Prose, Anoka County Library (virtual)
April 16: Cristina Henriquez, Hennepin County Library (virtual)
April 18: Kiley Reid, Ramsey County Library (virtual)
April 25: Alice Winn, Highland Park Public Library, St. Paul (in-person)
May 1: Melanie Benjamin, Dakota County Library (virtual)
Kudos to Minnesotans William Kent Krueger, Jess Lourey and Laura Zimmerman, nominated for Mystery Writers of America’s prestigious Edgar Allen Poe awards. Krueger is nominated in the Best Novel category for “The River We Remember.” Lourey’s nomination in Best Paperback Original is for “The Taken Ones,” and Zimmerman is a nominee in the Best Young Adult category for “Just Do This One Thing For Me.” Winners will be announced May 1 at the 78th awards celebration in New York City.
