Musician/writer Dylan Hicks and Poet Dobby Gibson at the Northeast Library

Once again the Friends of the Northeast Library will sponsor a very special author talk on Thursday, May 17, 6;30 p.m. at the Library, 2200 Central Avenue Northeast.  The May program is a classic double-header:

Dylan Hicks, is a man of many interests, talents and faces. Readers who know Dylan Hicks are eagerly awaiting his first novel which is set for publication in May by Coffee House Press, a Northeast independent literary force.    Though difficult to categorize, Boarded Windows is already receiving national acclaim.  The novel reflects and spirit of Uptown Minneapolis in the Nineties.

One reviewer, Sam Lipsyte, writes “Do yourself a favor and read this smart, tender book.  The characters will  haunt you with their longing, and inspire you with their sweet, caustic wit.  Dylan Hicks knows his music and his prose is a song in itself.  He’s given light to the shuttered and boarded parts of life.”

The theme of the novel comes as no surprise to the many locals who know Hicks as a songwriter and musician. Earlier this year he released his first album in ten years. The book includes a free download of Sings Bolling Green, a soundtrack to the novel written and performed by Dylan Hicks himself.

Followers of popular culture know that in the past several years Hicks has melded his writing and musical talents as a prodigious writer.   He’s a familiar name as contributor to City Pages, a position he left to focus on Boarded Windows.

A search of the web discloses some intriguing information about Dylan Hicks’ life and interests.  His own website contains a forthright author statement that reveals much about Boarded Windows.  A lengthy conversation  with his colleague Brad Zellar goes into real depth about writing and music.  Zellar concludes with an intriguing observation that “there’s no Minneapolis novel.   Boarded Windows, Zellar writes “is the first book that I can think of that’s really steeped in Minneapolis, that really gets it.”  A question the author may address at the Friends program….

Joining Dylan Hicks on the program is Minnesota poet Dobby Gibson who will discuss his new collection It Becomes You, forthcoming from another independent press Graywolf Press in 2013.  The collection of poems is described as “meditative, lyrical, aphoristic, and always leavened with a wry wit.  The reviewer writes that “through Dobby Gibson’s poems you explore the divergent conditions by which we’re perpetually defined—the daily weather, the fluctuations of the Dow, the growth of a cancer cell, the politics of the day.”

Dobby Gibson’s first book of poetry, Polar, published in 2004, received the Beatrice Award and was a finalist for the 2006 Minnesota Book Award.  He is also the author of a second collection of poetry, Skirmish, published in 2009 by Graywolf Press.

Again, a web search will discover several interviews with Dobby Gibson, reviews and readings of his works of poetry.

The Friends of the Library programs are all free and open to the public.

Author Martin Kihn featured at Friends of Northeast Library talk

Martin Kihn writes about the world he knows – with a twist.  This includes his recent novel, Bad Dog: A Love Story, a touching tale that marks a true departure in Kihn’s  writing style.  Bad Dog follows the trials and triumphs  of Hola, the “most beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog in the world” who clearly lacks the niceties of training, and her “supposed master” who has some troubles of his own.

Kihn will share his unique take on the world on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 6:30 p.m. at the Northeast Library, 2200 Central Avenue Northeast.

After twenty years of living and working in fast-paced New York City  Kihn moved from NYC to Northeast Minneapolis in October with his wife singer-songwriter Julia Douglass and, of course, Hola  – When asked why the move, Kihn says that his wife is from this area and Hola is taken with walks along the Mississippi and the Stone Arch Bridge area.

Though he is first-and-foremost a writer, Kihn adds that he is also “a digital marketer, dog lover, balletomane and spiritual athlete.”  Born in Zambia, Kihn grew up in suburban Michigan, earned a BA in Theater Studies from Yale and an MBA from Columbia Business School.  In Minneapolis he pursues his writing profession while managing his business career at Fallon.

A prolific writer, Kihn has published in a host of publications including the New York Times, GQ, Us and others.  He was on the staff of several publications and, in the late 1990’s, was head writer for the MTV show Pop-Up Video for which he was an Emmy nominee.

The self-deprecating Kihn admits that most of his earlier writing “could be called satirical or snarky, meticulously researched and office-based.” One of his early publications, affectionately entitled House of Lies: How management consultants steal your watch and then tell you the time (Grand Central 2005) reflects his three years working for a large consultant agency.  Though praised by the press, the book was not well received by professional colleagues who spammed Amazon.com with one-star reviews intended to sabotage the criticism of their trade.

Kihn moved on to produce his most popular book of that “snarky” period,  a  satirical stunt-memoir the premise of which is that a person who is too nice to get ahead in business decides systematically to turn himself into a jerk and reap the rewards.  It was a rage round the globe.

Bad Dog reflects an entirely different side of the writer.  Bad Dog: A Love Story, is the warm story of a troubled man and his badly behaved mountain dog.  It’s described as a “journey of redemption, as together man and dog reclaim their lives by working toward a common goal.”  Much more about Marty Kihn on his website on which Hola even appears in a new video on Kihn’s website.

Martin Kihn’s talk is presented by Friends of the Northeast Library.  Contact the Friends at northeast@friendsofhclib.org

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Legendary Paul Metsa at Northeast Library in Minneapolis

 

 

Reading the words of Paul Metsa as recorded in his memoir, Blue Guitar Highways, is a walk through the several decades of the local music scene with all of his and its connections with the ages and stages of American music writ large.

 

An Iron Ranger by birth Metsa, now a Northeast Minneapolis resident, will be sharing his stories with his neighbors and fans on Saturday, December 10, 1:00 p.m. at the Northeast Library, 2200 Central Avenue NE.  The special chance to meet and hear the legendary Metsa is sponsored by Hennepin County Library in conjunction with the Friends of the Northeast Library.

 

Metsa is not only known by just about everybody – he knows just about everybody.  No less an authority than Minnesota Law and Politics reports that “Metsa is a hodge-podge of people, a melting pot of different characters and performers.  He’s a songwriter, a folk singer, a blues singer, a guitarist, a social activist, a Finn, a storyteller, a comedian, a philosopher, and a conspiracy theorist.”

 

Describing an interview with Metsa Strib reporter Jon Bream writes that “he has booked bars (Famous Dave’s, Mayslack’s), organized festivals and put together almost as many benefit concerts as he’s played at.”  Metsa embraces a performing opportunity when and wherever the opportunity presents itself.  “Whether it’s the David Letterman show or the Gunflint Tavern in Grand Marais,” he told Jon Bream in that same interview.

 

Blue Guitar Highway, published recently by the University of Minnesota Press, tells the story of Metsa’s youth on the Range, his coming of age in the Seventies, and his involvement with the Minneapolis music scene in the Eighties – Husker Du, Prince, the Replacements and their ilk.  It covers, too, Metsa’s life as a professional musician working with the superstars of the American music scene.

 

Today he is busy promoting other artists, especially those whose music must be recorded and shared now, or lost.  My personal favorite is a recording featuring Willie West and Willie Walker, appropriately titled Paul Metsa Gives You the Willies.

 

And Saturday, December 10, he will be sharing his life, his philosophy, and his remarkable stories with those who are fortunate enough to be in the audience at Northeast Library for this unique close-to-home presentation.

 

“Miss Representation” Explores Media Bias

“Miss Representation” is the next in the 2011 Women’s Human Rights Film Series sponsored by the Advocates for Human Rights in collaboration with The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library and Metropolitan State University.  The film is set for Wednesday, November 9, 7:00 p.m. at Metro State Founder’s Hall Auditorium, 700 East Seventh Street, St. Paul.

 

The film “uncovers a glaring reality in our society…how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in influential positions in America.”  It challenges the media’s limiting and often disparaging portrayals of women.  Included in the story are stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with influential women from Condoleezza Rice to Gloria Steinem.  The promotion material promises that “the film accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective.”

 

All of the films in the series are free and open to the public.  Sign language interpretation and other accommodations are available with advance notice.

 

Contact The Friends at friends@thefriends.org or 651 222 3242.  More information at www.thefriends.org.

 

Friends of NE Library Slate Book Sale December 2-3

Friends of the Northeast Library has announced plans for their next book sale to be held December 2-3 at the Northeast Library, 2200 Central Avenue NE.  Hours TBA.

The Friends will be collecting books for the sale beginning Friday, November 25.  Other collections dates are Saturday, November 26, Tuesday, November 29, Wednesday, November 30 and Thursday, December 1.  Drop off gently used books at the Library meeting room – Please no Reader’s Digest condensed books of textbooks.

In the week preceding the book sale Friends of Northeast Library volunteers will sort the books and organize for the sale December 2-3.

No plans for a blizzard this year – but then again we didn’t plan on a blizzard during the book sale last year either.  And still, thanks to the resilience of shoppers and Friends, we made a handsome profit to enhance the “new” library.

Questions – contact the Friends at northeast@supporthclib.org

Focus on Minnesota Presses Series Opens at Minneapolis Central Library

Though Minnesota readers know local writers and their works, we often know less about the publishers that nurture the authors, edit, design, publish  and promote their written words.  Friends of Hennepin County Library’s  Spotlight on Local Presses, a series of three evenings of literary events that feature presses that  have collectively published a wealth of fine literature known around the globe

Ø     Ed Bok Lee and Bao begin the series on Saturday, September 24, 8:00 p.m. with the launch of their most recent books of poetry, published by Coffeehouse Press.  Both authors are well known in the Twin Cities and on the national Asian American literary and spoken word scene.

Ø     The second program, Thursday, November 3, 7:00 p.m., focuses on Graywolf Press.  It’s a sneak preview of the new publishing series featuring authors Mary Rockcastle and Jeffrey Yang and Editors Fiona McCrae and Jeffrey Shotts.

Ø     Travel literature is big in December – enjoy armchair travel with an evening of travel, politics and prose with award-winning poet, journalist, translator and essayist Christopher Merrill who will discuss his new book The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War.  Merrill will be introduced and joined on stage by Daniel Slager, Publisher and CEO of Milkweed Editions.

All of the programs are free and open to the public, held in Pohlad Hall at Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall.    Times change so note with care.  There will be a book sale and wine to sip before the program with book sale, signings and dessert after each presentation.

More on the Friends website or call 612 543 8197