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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.

Ojibwe artist to raise community-created sculpture outside Minnesota Capitol

Ojibwe artist to raise community-created sculpture outside Minnesota Capitol

Ojibwe artist Sharon Day will unveil a new artwork outside the Minnesota Capitol on Sunday. She was inspired to create the piece in part to give elders and people with health conditions a way to make their voices heard amid the pandemic.
by Faye Williams

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'The Code For Love And Heartbreak' isn't 'Emma' — but it is charming

'The Code For Love And Heartbreak' isn't 'Emma' — but it is charming

Jillian Cantor's new YA novel lifts some of the elements of Jane Austen's classic — like character names — wholesale. But you'll enjoy it more if you don't expect the plot to follow exactly.
by Alethea Kontis

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A bookseller recommends 'The City in the Middle of the Night'

A bookseller recommends 'The City in the Middle of the Night'

In the “The City in the Middle of the Night” by Charlie Jane Anders, there is a planet that is half in constant darkness and half in unending sunlight. Humans can only survive in the margin where the two halves meet. From two opposite cities — one autocratic, one lawless — come two girls whose lives intertwine.
by Emily Bright

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Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o says prison formed him as a writer

Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o says prison formed him as a writer

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a perennial favorite for the Literature Nobel. He hasn't won yet — but he does have a new book out, a novel in verse that tells the origin story of Kenya's Gĩkũyũ people.
by Scott Simon

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For poet Maggie Smith, an ending was the beginning of her new book

For poet Maggie Smith, an ending was the beginning of her new book

Smith says she started writing “Keep Moving” as her marriage was ending. It began as a series of affirmations she wrote for herself on Twitter; she found that the posts were helping other people too.
by Mary Louise Kelly

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Talking Volumes: A conversation with Claudia Rankine

Talking Volumes: A conversation with Claudia Rankine

Kerri Miller hosts a conversation with poet, playwright, bestselling author, MacArthur Fellow, and Yale professor Claudia Rankine about her new collection “Just Us: An American Conversation.”
by Kerri Miller

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Rapper Tory Lanez charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion

Rapper Tory Lanez charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion

Los Angeles prosecutors on Thursday charged rapper Tory Lanez with shooting artist Megan Thee Stallion during an argument earlier this year.

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Phil Klay's new 'Missionaries' is an ambitious novel of ideas

Phil Klay's new 'Missionaries' is an ambitious novel of ideas

Klay won acclaim for his debut story collection “Redeployment,” about the experiences of soldiers. His long awaited novel looks at how America has developed and exported the idea of a war on terror.
by Lily Meyer

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Nobel literature prize awarded to U.S. poet Louise Glück

Nobel literature prize awarded to U.S. poet Louise Glück

The 2020 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to the U.S. poet Louise Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."
by Petra Mayer and Mark Katkov

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'Addie LaRue' is invisible — but memorable

'Addie LaRue' is invisible — but memorable

Addie LaRue was born in France 400 years ago — but nobody remembers that. She made a supernatural deal for immortality at the cost of permanent anonymity, so she tries to leave a mark however she can.
by Caitlyn Paxson

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