51 Novels!!-Stephen King

Talking Volumes: A book club where the author shows up! My previous post featured Barbara Kingsolver who wowed the crowd at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul and last Wednesday night, Stephen King showed up to be interviewed by Terri Miller of Minnesota National Public Radio. He, too, was a huge hit with the audience. I wasn't seated as close to the stage as during my previous visits, but even at a longer distance my camera caught his facial expression that demonstrates his wit and humor. Again, it was a sell-out and to accommodate the crowd, part of the audience was seated on the stage behind King. He talked about the history of his literary career and read some passages from his most recent novel, "Under the Dome." Responding to audience questions about his books, he revealed that his favorite novel is "The Shawshank Redeption" and his favorite character is Gordon Lachance in "The Body" which was made into a movie called "Stand By Me",(somewhat autobiographical because the main character is a writer). We always wondered how he could get into the mind of a kid so well! His favorite movie is "Cujo." Although my husband is more of a Stephen King fan than I am, I loved the evening.

Barbara Kingsolver

Although I am still on my self-imposed sabbatical I felt that I should share these photos of writer Barbara Kingsolver. I saw her being interviewed by Terri Miller at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul last Wednesday as part of the Talking Volumes series, sponsored by The Loft Literary Center and NPR. Great evening because T. Miller always does a superb job of interviewing the writers who are engaged for this popular program, and Kingsolver was fantastic. She held our attention talking for approximately an hour about the craft of writing and how it applies to her own methods.

Wow! What a Night!

On Wednesday, September 26, Sherman Alexie appeared on the stage at the Fitzgerald Theatre in downtown St. Paul as featured writer for the Talking Volumes program. What a terrific evening--probably one of the BEST performances of any living writer that I have attended. The man is a master showman, a real comedian in his own right. The place was packed and laughter ruled the evening. In the past I've seen him elsewhere (Macalester College) but he was in rare form last night and surpassed any other performance of his that I had witnessed!! If you haven't seen his movie, Smoke Signals, or have read any of his books and poetry, I highly recommend this talented writer. Read a bit more about him and his work in this Wiki article.

Poet Galway Kinnell

Charmingly eloquent, Galway Kinnell when discussing aging and life's changes said, "If you lose the ability to write in a way that is satisfying to you, then there are all sorts of things in the world that are just as good as writing, and you can turn to them." Blogging apparently satisfies that need in many of us!!

Poet, Josephine Dickinson

Josephine Dickinson became profoundly deaf at age six from meningitis, but managed to become a musician and music teacher! Gradually she turned to poetry and the stage at the Fitzgerald Theatre was graced by her presence last Thursday when she read her poems with another poet, Galway Kinnell.