Literary Calendar: 7 events for the week of July 17
JEFFREY BOLDT: Signs copies of his new novel “Blue Lake.” Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, July 23, Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St,. Minneapolis.
DAVID SANTOS DONALDSON: Discusses “Greenland: A Novel,” with Patrick Nathan. 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21. Virtual event, presented by Magers & Quinn. Register at magersandquinn.com.
JEFFERSON MORLEY: Presents “Scorpions’ Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate.” In-person. 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis.
SARAH NELSON: Minnesotan signs copies of her new children’s picture book, “A Park Connects us,” an ode to local parks and how they become beacons for interracial fun. 10-11:30 a.m. Friday, July 22, Lake Country Booksellers, 4766 Washington Square, White Bear Lake.
ERIKA SANCHEZ: Award-winning poet, novelist and essayist (“I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter”) discusses her new memoir, “Crying in the Bathroom,” about growing up the daughter of Mexican immigrants in Chicago in the 1990s. Virtual event at 7 p m. on Thursday, July 21, presented by Magers & Quinn. Register at magersandquinn.com.
STRIVE GRAND OPENING: Strive Publishing Book Store in the IDS Center, 80 S. 8th St., Minneapolis, will hold a grand opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 20. The event will kick off the store’s summer author series with a visit from Anthony Walsh, author of the children’s book “Hockey is for Everybody.” The summer series will feature children’s book authors, beginning July 30, every other Saturday at 11 a.m., and authors in the adult genre every other Wednesday at 5 p.m. beginning Aug. 3. Black-owned Strive was founded to fill the need for culturally relevant children’s books and to address the under-representation of black authors in book publishing.
SHERRY WALLING: Minnesotan introduces “Touching Two Worlds: A Guide for Finding Hope in the Landscape of Loss,” a memoir and guide to helping people grieve better. Walling, a trauma psychologist, believes most people are not good at grieving, burying a loved one on Saturday and going back to work on Tuesday. And we deny grief that doesn’t involve death, such as job loss, divorce, and other life changes. We need, she says, to learn to integrate grief. Her topics include parenting and grief, the neurological benefits of movement (and why she joined the circus), how to cry in public, and recognizing and de-escalating triggers. Walling will read and sign books at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis, and host a book launch party at 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, at The Coven, 2429 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON
“Iron Lake,” William Kent Krueger’s first thriller featuring Cork O’Connor, is the summer title for One Book, a statewide book club that invites Minnesotans to read a common title and come together virtually to enjoy, reflect, and discuss. From now through Sept. 4, Minnesotans are invited to read the featured book and will have access to reading guides and virtual book club discussions through local libraries. Readers can access the e-book and audiobook for free on Ebooks Minnesota for eight weeks and will need to create an account to access the free materials. In addition to digital formats, hard copies of the book will be available through public libraries and independent bookstores across the state.
“Iron Lake,” published in 1998, introduced O’Connor, a former sheriff in the northern Minnesota town of Aurora. It won a Minnesota Book Award and Mystery Writers of America Anthony Award for Best First Novel. The St. Paul author will do a virtual discussion at 7 p.m. Aug. 11 with Grand Master Ellen Hart. For information go to thefriends.org/onebook. This is a program of Friends of the St. Paul Public Library acting as Minnesota Center for the Book.
Jumping ahead 34 years to the present, Krueger’s 19th O’Connor adventure, “Fox Creek,” will be published Aug. 23. it’s on the website Novel Suspects summer reading list and Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review. It’s about Henry Meloux, ancient Ojibwe healer, who leads two women into the BWCA to avoid danger and O’Connor has to figure out who is threatening one of the women and where the wise old elder has vanished in the wilderness.
“On the Left Bank,” a new Socialist Zine, was launched early this month at East Side Freedom Library. This leftist lit magazine is published by St. Paulite David Ackos, who lives on the West Said and works on the East Side as a renter organizer working on housing justice. The publication is accepting submissions for the next volume at leftbankmag@proton.me. They are also inviting local leftist writers to support the project by joining the editorial board.
More good news: Louise Erdrich’s “The Sentence” is available in paperback from Harper Perennial. Part ghost story, part love story to books and bookstores, it’s grounded in the real-life aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.
