Literary calendar for week of Oct. 30
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Kate DiCamillo: Everybody on Deckawoo Drive is getting ready for the holiday in Kate DiCamillo’s “A Very Mercy Christmas,” latest in the two-time Newbery winner’s gentle chapter book series featuring Mercy Watson, a fun-loving, buttered-toast-loving pig. Once again DiCamillo’s text is enlivened by Chris Van Dusen’s joyful illustrations.
DiCamillo, who lives in Minneapolis, will sign copies of this affectionate tribute to Mercy, family and friends, at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, at Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul. Those planning to attend should register at the store’s website (redballoon.com) to sign up for a time to meet the author and have books signed.
In “A Very Mercy Christmas” (Candlewick Press, $18.99), Stella Watson decides suddenly to go caroling. But nobody wants to join her except Mercy. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity and the rest of the family is involved in an attempt at making fruitcake. Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her according and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Stella might have to sing by herself with enthusiastic contributions from Mercy, the cat and the horse she picks up along the way.
The Mercy books began in 2006 with “Mercy Watson to the Rescue.” The series is crafted so that readers can grow up with Mercy, from the earliest read-aloud age to independent chapter-book readers. They are available in bundles and boxed sets, hardcover and paperback.
DiCamillo, a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, has received a lot of praise for the Mercy books. KidsReads review said: “There is something reassuring about the way (the Watsons) regard Mercy. She is beautiful. She is wonderful. She is adored. Which actually sums up the way I feel about Kate DeCamillo’s series.”
Tracy K. Smith: Former U.S. poet laureate is inaugural speaker for the first annual Walter Nathan College in the Schools Literary Festival presented by the Walter Nathan Literary Initiatives, in partnership with the University of Minnesota College in the Schools program and the university’s Creative Writing program. Smith will share her Pulitzer Prize-winning collection, “Life on Mars,” with 400 area high school students. The Walter Nathan Library Initiatives were established in the Creative Writing Program at the university in 2022. Students have also submitted original poems to the first annual Walter Nathan High School poetry contest and the winner will read with Smith and contest judge poet Eloisa Amezcua, author of “Fighting is Like a Wife” (Coffee House Press). Public reading, 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, 412 Pillsbury Hall, 310 Pillsbury Dr. S.E., Mpls. Free. No reservations necessary.
Literary Bridges: Reading series celebrates contributions of Asian women to the region’s literary community, with poets Lia Rivamonte and Wang Ping, who is also a writer, biographer, performance and multimedia artist; Npaus <f.c.> Baim, educator and storyteller, and Minna Zhou, second generation Chinese American writer, radio producer, and DJ. Free. 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.
What else is going on
A 1975 graduate of Simley High School, Kevin J. Weddle will be honored Wednesday in New York for winning the $50,000 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History ninth annual Gilder Lehrman Prize for his book “The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution,” (Oxford University Press). The book explores the 1777 Battle of Saratoga that marked a turning point in the Revolutionary War. The prize recognizes the best book in the field of military history published in English during the previous calendar year. Weddle, professor of military theory and strategy and Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Penn., is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and served more than 20 years of active duty before retiring as a colonel. He holds master’s degrees in history and civil engineering from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate in history from Princeton University. About his prize-winning book Weddle said: “I wanted to write a book that covered the entire complex five-month campaign, all 11 battles and engagements, and one that placed the campaign in political and strategic context.”
Minnesota poet J.P. White has won the 28th annual White Pine Press poetry prize for his manuscript “A Tree Becomes a Room,” to be published in fall 2023. White, who lives near Excelsior, is the author of five books of poems and a novel, “Every Boat Turns South.” He has published essays, articles, fiction, reviews, interviews and poetry in national journals and publications. He is also editor-at-large for Plant-Human Quarterly. White Pine is based in Buffalo, N.Y.
