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Arts and Culture

MPR News has you covered with news and stories about local art and culture happenings across Minnesota.

Art Hounds: Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what's exciting in local art. You can explore arts events here, or become an Art Hound today.

Art Reviews: Our arts team offers insight on the latest in theater, music, visual arts and more. We explore the breadth of creativity and innovation found throughout Minnesota, offering audiences a deeper understanding of the works and artists shaping our cultural landscape. Read more here.

Art Friend: Everyone needs an art friend. Art Friend is a new segment with our arts team. Art spaces can feel exclusive and art can be confusing, obtuse, and even boring. But, especially with the right context, everyone can be a critic. So let us be your guide- your Art Friend. Listen or read Art Friend stories here.

Our arts coverage is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

You haven't read a heist novel like this before

You haven't read a heist novel like this before

Cassandra Khaw's new novel follows a rag-tag band of criminals who have to pull together for one last heist — but in their hands, what could be an ordinary tale becomes visionary sci-fi adventure.
by Jessica P. Wick

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Ask a Bookseller: Crime-solving, ghost-hunting pet capers 

Ask a Bookseller: Crime-solving, ghost-hunting pet capers 

This week’s recommendation for kid readers has a “Secret Life of Pets” vibe. Angela Whited of Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul recommends the novel “The Great Ghost Hoax” by Emily Ecton, with spot illustrations by David Mottram.
by Emily Bright

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Dr. Leana Wen reflects on her memoir and the importance of public health

Dr. Leana Wen reflects on her memoir and the importance of public health

Dr. Leana Wen’s memoir is called “Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.” She joined host Kerri Miller for a conversation about her memoir and how her personal story has shaped the public health leader she has become.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Gwen Nell Westerman is the new Minnesota poet laureate

Gwen Nell Westerman is the new Minnesota poet laureate

Minnesota State University, Mankato, English professor Gwen Nell Westerman will be Minnesota’s new poet laureate. She is an author, poet and quilt art maker who is the first Native person to hold the position.
by Tim Pugmire

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3 sobering lessons learned since 9/11

3 sobering lessons learned since 9/11

These books provide a detailed accounting of events that have defined the U.S. role in the world in the first part of the 21st century. None makes for cheery reading, but all offer sobering lessons.
by Greg Myre

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In 'Civilizations,' Inca emperor Atahualpa conquers 16th-century Spain

In 'Civilizations,' Inca emperor Atahualpa conquers 16th-century Spain

Laurent Binet seems to genuinely want to know to what extent conquest and the cruelty it inevitably produces are reducible, redeemable, or escapable. He also plainly wants to play around.
by Lily Meyer

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Writer Maggie Nelson asks what it means to feel free

Writer Maggie Nelson asks what it means to feel free

In “On Freedom's” allusive, blunt, funny essays, the author of “The Argonauts” and “The Art of Cruelty” tries to imagine freedom as it exists in the contemporary contexts of art, sex, drugs, and climate.
by Annalisa Quinn

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Alabama's first Black poet laureate takes a personal approach to 'Reparations'

Alabama's first Black poet laureate takes a personal approach to 'Reparations'

Ashley M. Jones is Alabama's youngest and first Black poet laureate. Her new book “Reparations Now!” discusses America's history of Black oppression, and asks for more than monetary repairs.
by Jeevika Verma

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'Poet Warrior' Joy Harjo wants Native peoples to be seen as human

'Poet Warrior' Joy Harjo wants Native peoples to be seen as human

The nation's first Native American poet laureate has a new memoir in which she tells her own story — as well as the story of her sixth-generation grandfather, who was forced from his ancestral land.
by Terry Gross

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