FREE VERSE: Kenneth Goldsmith
Walker Art Center, February 23th, 2006
Goldsmith gave a highly entertaining reading, sampling from his many experimental works such as Fidget and The Weather, and rousingly sung excerpts from Head Citations, to an enthusiastic and packed crowd. Hear Kenneth Goldsmith read for yourself on the Walker Art Center web site!
R.M. Berry and Noy Holland
Micawbers Books, Friday, March 24, 2006
It was a wonderful turnout on a nice spring evening for stories. Berry read from his recent novel Frank, a wry and eloquent "unwriting" of Shelley's Frankenstein. Holland read from her recent story collection What Begins With Bird, bringing alive a lyrical and rural landscape.
FREE VERSE: Richard Hell
Walker Art Center, Thursday, April 20, 2006
The legendary Richard Hell packed the auditorium with an eclectic mix of punks and art lovers, reading from early poetry, his first novel Go Now, his collaborative work with David Shapiro, Rabbit Duck, and his most recent novel Godlike. If you missed it, check out the webcast of Richard Hell's reading on the Walker Art Center web site!
EMERGENT POETS:
Matt Hart, Anthony Hawley, Amanda Nadelberg, and Laura Sims
The Soap Factory, May 13, 2006
Words warmed a chilly Minnesota spring night, as four great new talents read from their first books to a standing room only crowd.
John Koethe
Magers & Quinn Booksellers, June 16, 2006
It was a dark and stormy night, but that didn't deter Milwaukee's John Koethe from delivering a delightful reading to a rapt crowd from his latest book, Sally's Hair.
FREE VERSE: The Poetry Bus Tour
Walker Art Center, September 14, 2006
The Poetry Bus Tour, sponsored by Wave Books, hit Minneapolis on a gorgeous day! Flocks of poetry lovers (along with Canada geese) followed visiting and local poets as they read through the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. More readings continued (sans geese) inside the Walker Art Center as poets and listeners moved through the galleries and finally ended up at the cinema. Sixteen poets read from their work: Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Chris Fischbach, Amanda Nadelberg, Travis Nichols, Scott Helmes, Anthony McCann, Becky Peterson, Brian Engel-Fuentes, Matthew Zapruder, Kelly Everding, Joshua Beckman, John Colburn, Catherine Wagner, G.E. Patterson, Tina Brown Celona, and Anselm Berrigan. The Poetry Bus, making a 50-city tour through the United States and Canada, truly exposed the Twin Cities as a flourishing poetic landscape!
Click here to see pictures from the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden readings!
Brandon Downing and Macgregor Card
Spot Art Gallery, October 6, 2006
On this night of the harvest moon, Brandon Downing and Macgregor Card read poems to an enthusiastic crowd at this co-sponsored event with Spout Press. The evening also featured an animated short film by local Tom Schroeder and music by The Godevils. For a picture and Eric Lorberer's stress-induced introductions (for which he truly apologizes) click here.
2006 Twin Cities Book Festival
Minneapolis Community and Technical College — , October 14, 2006
Guest authors for this day-long celebration of books included Mark Z. Danielewski, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, John Yau, Mary Roach, Julie Powell, Steven Lee Beeber, Lawrence Sutin, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, Shannon Hale, and Amanda Adams.
Marjane Satrapi
Lyndale Congregational Church, October 26, 2006
co-sponsored by Magers & Quinn
Internationally acclaimed Iranian cartoonist Marjane Satrapi spoke to a full house--348 people!--about her experience writing her award-winning comic book autobiography, Persepolis and Persepolis 2, as well as her newest memoir, Chicken With Plums. Her wit and wisdom concerning dictatorships, world affairs, art, and the pleasures of life kept the audience laughing and engaged on this rare occasion.
Rosamond Purcell
Minnesota Center for Photography, November 14, 2006
co-sponsored by the Minnesota Center for Photography
Rosamond Purcell presented a stunningly beautiful retrospective of her career as a photographer, including work from natural history museum collections, her own collections of dessicated books and rescued objects, and her carefully constructed collages, all in celebration of her new book Bookworm.
FREE VERSE: Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop
Walker Art Center, November 30, 2006
Poets, translators, and Burning Deck Press publishers Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop read from their expansive oevre, including a collaborative poem, to a rapt audience on this last, cold November evening.