Literary calendar for week of April 24: ‘Seed Keeper,’ ‘The Other Black Girl,’ ‘Hell of a Book’ and more
KYYAH ABDUL: Discusses “The Prepared Graduate: Find Your Dream Job, Live the Life You Want, Step into Your Purpose.” Virtual event. 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, presented by Magers & Quinn. Information: magersandquinn.com/events/.
CELEBRATING INDIES: Next Chapter Booksellers celebrates Independent Bookstore Day with appearances by two award-winning writers with Indigenous roots. At noon Diane Wilson discusses her novel “The Seed Keeper;” at 2 p.m. Marcie Rendon talks about her mystery series featuring young Ojibwe sleuth Cash Blackbear. In-person. Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.
JEFFREY EISNER: Presents “The Simple Comforts Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook.” In-person. 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.
ZAKIYA DALILA HARRIS: Discusses her debut novel, “The Other Black Girl,” a genre-bending story that includes spies and horror, about the only Black woman at an all-white publishing company who befriends a newly hired Black woman only to learn the newcomer may not be a friend at all. Presented as an Archie Givens Jr. NOMMO African American Speaker. In-person. In conversation with Lissa Jons Lofgren, host of Urban Agenda on KMOJ Radio and of a podcast, “Black Market Reads,” for the Givens Foundation in which she amplifies the voices of Black writers about their craft and works. 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, University of Minnesota Coffman Memorial Union Great Hall, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Mpls. Masks required. Free, but registration necessary at: continuum.umn.edu/reg/reservations-to-the-other-black-girl-featuring-zakiya-dalila-harris/.
KIESE LAYMON: Black writer from Jackson, Miss., author of the award-winning memoir “heavy,” the essay collection “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America,” and the genre-defying novel “Long Division,” discusses his writing. In-person. Presented by Minnesota State Write Like Us reading series. In conversation with Minnesotan Michael Kleber-Diggs, poet, essayist and literary critic. In-person. 6 p.m. Thursday, April 28, North Hennepin Community College, 7411 85th Ave. N., Brooklyn Park. Free but registration required at: eventbrite.com/e/minnesota-state-write-like-us-presents-author-kiese-laymon-free-event-tickets-261986116527
JASON MOTT: Author of “Hell of a Book,” winner of the National Book Award for fiction, discusses the novel, which follows the cross-country publicity junket of an eccentric novelist and a young Black man whose world is turned upside down by a heinous episode of police violence. Virtual event. 7 p.m. Monday, April 25, presented in the MELSA Club Book series. No registration required; streamed live at facebook.com/clubbook.
LITERARY BRIDGES: Readings by poets and slam/spoken word poets including Althena Kildegaard, Peuo Tuy, Tu the Judoka (Eric Tu), Michael Walsh and Lee Kisling. In-person. 2 p.m. Sunday, May 1, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave, St. Paul.
POETRY NIGHT: With Kate Gale, Michael Kleber-Diggs and Said Shaiye, moderated by Marya Hornbacher. In-person. 7 p.m. Thursday, April 21, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.
RICHARD POWERS: Author of “The Bewilderment” and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for “The Overstory” discusses his work in Friends of the Hennepin County Library’s Pen Pals series. In-person. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28, 11 a.m. Friday, April 29, Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet. $55-$45. Information: supportHCLIB.org.
JAMES ROLLINS: Author of standalone thrillers, the popular Jake Ransom middle grade series, and the novelization of the Steven Spielberg film “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” discusses the 16th installment of his popular Sigma Force series, “Kingdom of Bones,” in which the Sigmas race to prevent global catastrophe caused by an insidious phenomenon deep in the Congo where the evolutionary playing field is turning the lush biome cunning and predatory. Virtual event. 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28, presented in the Club Book series. No registration required: live-streamed at facebook.com/clubbook.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON
Sue and Brian Roegge are selling their Chapter2Books bookstore in Hudson, Wis., according to an announcement via Minnesota Independent Publishers Association. No reason was given for sale of the store, which the married couple founded in 2011 to serve the Hudson and River Falls regions.
New in paperback at $16.99 is “The Double Life of Bob Dylan” A Restless, Hungry Feeling, 1941-1966″ by Clinton Heylin, considered the definitive biography of the Minnesota singer/songwriter, thanks to the author’s access to Dylan’s never-before-studied archives at the George Kaiser Foundation in Tulsa, Okla. Besides exploring Dylan’s early years, Heylin discusses how his voice and songs changed after he recovered from a motorcycle accident in 1966, at the peak of his fame.
