Literary calendar: Food Network favorite Abby Jimenez launches 'Life's Too Short'

Apr. 10—BRIDGES READING — Featuring members of the Southern Minnesota Poets Society, with Derek Liebertz, Jana Bouma, Susan Chambers, Deborah A. Goschy, Ben Unsenth, Ronda Redmond and Henry Panowitsch. Free. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 15, co-sponsored by Cracked Walnut and Next Chapter Booksellers. Go to: nextchapterbooksellers.com.

JIM HEYNEN: Launches "The Youngest Boy" in conversation with his publisher, Jim Perlman, of Holy Cow! Press in Duluth. Heynen's stories about unnamed farm boys first appeared many years ago with "The Man Who Kept Cigars in His Cap." Several collections of boy stories have been published since then and have been models in the short-short or prose poem form now used by other writers The new collection is the first to focus on the youngest boy, a character who can be a dreamer one minute, a trouble-maker the next and a problem-solver the next. 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 13. For information/registration, go to: crowdcast.io/e/jim-heynen-for-the/register.

ABBY JIMENEZ: Food Network favorite, award-winning pastry chef and owner of Nadia Cakes Cupcakery and custom cake studios is also a bestselling romance writer who introduces "Life's Too Short," in which a globe-trotting social media superstar's lifestyle hits a road bump when she unexpectedly comes into custody of her baby niece. Jimenez parlayed her baking success into Minnesota-based small business with outlets in Maple Grove, Woodbury, and Palmdale, Calif. 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, presented in the Club Book series. Free. Follow on facebook.com/ClubBook.

SARA KAMALI: Discusses "Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists are Waging War Against the United States," in conversation with Alexander Reid Ross. 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, presented by Magers & Quinn. Live-streamed on the store's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

DOUGLAS KEARNY: University of Minnesota assistant professor in the Creative Writing Program reads from his new poetry collection, "Sho." He is a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Cy Twombly awardee and Cave Canem fellow who has published six books. Also a librettist, Kearney has had four operas staged, most recently "Sweet Land." 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 12, presented by the university's Department of English and the English EDI Graduate Workshops. Free. Register for the webinar at: cla.umn.edu/english/events/celebration-douglas-kearney-s-sho

JANA LARSON: Discusses "Reel Bay" with Josh Ostergaard. Equal parts memoir, mystery, reclaimed screenplay and travelogue, the book charts Larson's unusual journey toward understanding another woman's life. 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, hosted by SubText Books via Crowdcast. Information/registration: crowdast.io/e/jana-larson-for-reel-bay/register.

POETRY NIGHT: Magers & Quinn welcomes Peter Filkins, Sidney Wade, and David Yezzi. 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 13. Lived-streamed on the store's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

NATE POWELL: Graphic novelist introduces "Save It for Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest," which addresses living in an era of what he calls "necessary protest." As he moves between subjective and objective experiences raising his children — depicted in their innocence as imaginary anthropomorphic animals — he reveals the sense of trust and connection with neighbors and strangers. Powell won a National Book Award for his collaboration with the late Congressman John Lewis for the acclaimed March trilogy. 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, presented by Rain Taxi Review. Free. Registration required at: raintaxi.com/nate-powell/

KIM TODD: Launches "Sensational: The Hidden History of America's Girl Stunt Reporters" in conversation with Julie Schumacher. 7 p.m. Monday, April 12, presented by Magers & Quinn. Live-streamed on the store's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

YANG/THAO: Author Kao Kalia Yang and illustrator Billy Thao share their new picture book collaboration, "Yang Warriors," about a group of young Hmong cousins who leave the refugee camp to search for fresh vegetables, even though they know they will be punished if they are caught by guards. Based on Yang's experiences in Ban Vinai refugee camp, where her older sister, 7-year-old Dawb, was one of the story's warriors. 7 p.m. Friday, April 16, presented by East Side Freedom Library. Free. Register at: eastsidefreedomlibrary.org.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

AWARDS/PRIZES: Jean Prokott of Rochester, Minn., has won the 2010 Howling Bird Press poetry prize for her collection "Almost Sunset at High Noon." Augsburg University's student-run press will publish the book in fall of 2021 and Prokott receives a $1,000 prize ... Margaret Hasse's poetry collection, "Shelter," published by Nodin Press, is one of three finalists for the Independent Book Publishers Association Benjamin Franklin award. Hasse and artist Sharon DeMark paired words and images to depict a variety of shelters, including structures and experiences. Poetry winner will be announced Thursday, May 13.

PUBLISHING: Bill Meissner writes from St. Cloud that he had two baseball books accepted for publication within a week. One is "CIRCLING TOWARD HOME: Grassroots Baseball Prose, Meditations and Images," a photo/prose book using small-town grassroots ballfield photos he took, published by Finishing Line Press in Kentucky. And his full-length baseball short story collection, "Light at the Edge of the Field," will be published by Stephen F. Austin University Press in Texas. "Circling Toward Home" will be published in January of 2022. A date for the other one is pending ..."Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption," edited by Jane Jeon Trenka, Julia Chinyere Oparah and Sun Yung Shin, is back in print after being published in 2006 by University of Minnesota Press ... Graywolf Press' Nonfiction Prize winner Thirii Mayo Kyaw Myint's "Names for Light" will be published Aug. 17. Graywolf describes the book as "a fearless and tender portrait of family history and displacement (from Myanmar)."