This fall's Club Book author series will bring in a Prince biographer, a Pulitzer Prize winner, a winner of a National Book Critics Circle fiction prize, and several others — 11 writers in all, all virtual, in this time of COVID-19 restrictions.
The local series, by the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, begins on Thursday with the author of the Elouise "Lou" Norton mystery series, and concludes in November with Jane Smiley.
All events will be livestreamed on the Club Book Facebook page and also archived for later viewing on Facebook, YouTube or the Club Book website at clubbook.org.
Here is the lineup:
Rachel Howzell Hall, 7 p.m. Thursday Sept. 9, hosted by the Scott County Library:
Hall is the author of the popular Elouise Norton series and other books. Her latest novel is "These Toxic Things," published last week.
Angeline Boulley, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16, hosted by Dakota County Library.
The author of the young-adult novel "The Firekeeper's Daughter," Boulley is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and former director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Qian Julie Wang, 7 p.m. Sept. 20, hosted by Hennepin County Library.
An Ivy-League trained lawyer, Wang is also the author of the memoir "Beautiful Country," about growing up as an undocumented immigrant. She wrote her memoir on her iPhone during her daily commute to work.
Rita Woods, 7 p.m. Sept. 28, hosted by St. Paul Public Library.
Woods is the author of "Remembrance," a novel about a refuge for escaped enslaved people that is outside of the bounds of time and space.
Mary Kubica, 7 p.m. Oct. 4, hosted by Anoka County Library.
Kubica is the author of the breakout thriller "The Good Girl." Her newest novel is "Local Woman Missing."
Kate Quinn, 7 p.m. Oct. 7, hosted by Dakota County Library.
The author of many historical novels, including her four-volume Empress of Rome series as well as Reece book club selection "The Alice Network," Quinn is also the author of "The Rose Code," a novel about codebreakers in World War II.
Dan Piepenbring, 7 p.m. Oct. 13, hosted by Carver County Library.
Piepenbring, the former editor of the Paris Review, was approached by Prince in 2016 to collaborate on a memoir. After Prince's death, Piepenbring published "The Beautiful Ones" in 2019.
Tamara Winfrey-Harris, 7 p.m. Oct. 18, hosted by St. Paul Public Library.
The author of "The Sisters are Alright," and "Dear Black Girl," Winfrey-Harris writes about the confluence of race and sex.
Kawai Strong Washburn, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 27, hosted by Washington County Library. Winner of a PEN/America award and a Minnesota Book Award, Washburn lives in Minneapolis and is the author of "Sharks in the Time of Saviors," a coming-of-age novel set in Hawaii.
Maggie O'Farrell, noon, Nov. 3, hosted by Ramsey County Library.
O'Farrell is the author of a number of novels and a memoir, "I Am, I Am, I Am." Her latest novel, "Hamnet," won the National Book Critics Circle fiction prize and the Women's Prize for Fiction.
Jane Smiley, 7 p.m. Nov. 10, hosted by Carver County Library.
Smiley, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for "A Thousand Acres" and author of 30 books, will round out the Club Book series. Her latest novel is "Perestroika in Paris," the story of a horse and a dog (and some ducks).
Laurie Hertzel •
@StribBooks
