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William Kent Krueger is something of a St. Paul icon. For years, you could find him in booth No. 4 at the St. Clair Broiler, working on his latest book. He's since moved on to another cafe, but the indelible characters he created at the Broiler stick with him. He's written more than 15 novels, including the Cork O'Connor series set in the northern woods of Minnesota.

O'Connor, the hero of Krueger's series, is a retired cop from Chicago with Irish and Ojibwe heritage. He moves to Minnesota to escape the city, but he can't seem to escape crime.

An excerpt from the latest book in the series, 

On The Daily Circuit: Writing About Minnesota

William Kent Krueger joined The Daily Circuit on Jan. 26 to kick off its 

, a week of interviews with local writers working today.

"I've always believed that one of the ways I write about Minnesota that pleases people is that I bring a fresh eye to the place. I wonder, sometimes, when you grow up in a beautiful place if you become a little jaded to the beauty and uniqueness of it. I show people who've been here all their lives what's under their noses — you forget how gorgeous, how unique Minnesota is. I hope that's what comes through in my work."

"I write in a coffee shop. I do all my creative work in a coffee shop. It tends to be a very noisy space with lots of other people involved in it. It's the most welcoming space imaginable to me. I can't write in a quiet place, I simply can't. That may be in large measure because of the way the writing process developed for me.

When I decided I wanted to get serious about writing, my wife was in law school and I was the sole supporter of the family. We were living two blocks from a place called the St. Clair Broiler, a legendary cafe. It opened its doors at 6 o'clock in the morning, so there I was every morning at 6 o'clock with my notebook in hand. 

The Broiler and I parted ways a few years ago, but I still do all my writing in coffee shops. 

It's not uncommon at all for me to have the coffee poured and I'll bend to the work — an hour later I come up and my coffee's cold and I've been somewhere else for an hour."

On what piece of art, outside of literature, inspires him

"Honestly, the only thing I can say is geography. I have traveled so much across this country. I've lived in small towns, I've lived on farms, I've lived in big cities. I've lived in every geographic and cultural region, pretty much, in the United States.

In my early years, I looked at all of those places for what would inspire me to write the kind of stories I wanted to write. In the end, it was Minnesota. It was the geography, it was this place itself that inspired me so much."

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Novelist and crime writer William Kent Krueger joins The Daily Circuit for Minnesota Writers Week.

Minnesota Writers Week: William Kent Krueger

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