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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread from MPR News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. Listen to Ask a Bookseller to find your next favorite book.

Big Books and Bold Ideas

Big Books and Bold Ideas is a weekly series hosted by Kerri Miller every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Find reviews for new releases, as well as hidden gems you may have missed.

Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is an annual event series featuring notable authors in conversation about their new books. Presented by MPR News and The Minnesota Star Tribune. 

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer. 

Family secrets

Family secrets

A new memoir explores the fault lines of adoption that emerged when a woman sought out the daughter she gave away. Novelist A.M. Homes has surprising observations on finding the "other" family and on memoirs in general.

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Steven Hall and the Great (Virtual) Shark Hunt

Steven Hall and the Great (Virtual) Shark Hunt

In Steven Hall's new novel "The Raw Shark Texts," a young man wakes up in a room he doesn't recognize. He gets nervous when he realizes he doesn't know where he is. He gets scared when he realizes he doesn't know who he is. Then he learns he's being hunted by a virtual shark....
by Euan Kerr

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Wang Ping's long journey

Wang Ping's long journey

Wang Ping has an intimidating resume. She teaches creative writing at Macalester College in St Paul. She's published fiction, poetry, and an acclaimed book on the Chinese tradition of footbinding. She's just come out with a new collection of short stories. She's an accomplished photographer too. Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr reports Wang Ping says her history is the result of some curious twists of fate.
by Euan Kerr

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U of M President Bruininks' "Search for Meaning"

U of M President Bruininks' "Search for Meaning"

University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks chose Victor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" as one of the books that has been particularly meaningful in his life.

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Amid tragedy, a place for poetry

Amid tragedy, a place for poetry

U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall says literature and poetry can help people mourn and recover from tragedy. MPR's Tom Cran spoke with Hall about the topic during a visit to Minnesota this week.

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Well-known poet marks a milestone

Well-known poet marks a milestone

Countless aspiring writers have been encouraged by Mark Vinz. The Minnesota State University Moorhead professor is retiring after 40 years but he'll continue his 40-year love affair with writing.
by Dan Gunderson

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Two poets share the stage

Two poets share the stage

Galway Kinnell and Josephine Dickinson talk about how poetry connects people of different nationalities and experiences. Kinnell reads from "Strong is Your Hold," Dickinson, from her collection of poems, "Silence Fell." Their Talking Volumes appearance was recorded April 12 at the Fitzgerald Theater.

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How Minnesota found its poetic voice

How Minnesota found its poetic voice

For decades Minnesota poetry has been characterized by images like cornstalks and writers such as Robert Bly. But as a new poetry anthology shows, today's Minnesota poets mix diverse politics and heritage with prairie soil.
by Sea Stachura

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Walter Mosley's advice

Walter Mosley's advice

Mosley's newest book features no characters, no unsolved murders, jury trials or plot of any kind. This time, the novelist says, it's your turn.
by Tom Crann

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Author Louise Erdrich rejects UND honor over 'Sioux' nickname

Author Louise Erdrich rejects UND honor over 'Sioux' nickname

Erdrich grew up in North Dakota and has an American Indian heritage. The offer of an honorary degree means "a great deal" to her, Erdrich said, and she would happily accept it but for the school's Fighting Sioux logo.

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