When the 22nd season of Talking Volumes opens Sept. 14, audiences will be back in the Fitzgerald Theater after more than a year of attending events virtually.
Four writers make up this fall's lineup, a mix of local and national fiction writers.
Lauren Groff: Sept. 14
Groff, who lives in Florida, is the author of four novels and two short story collections, including "Fates and Furies," a finalist for the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Prize for Fiction. Her new novel, "Matrix," will be released Sept. 7. The novel takes place in the 1100s, during the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and centers on a young woman who is sent to an impoverished abbey to be the new prioress.
Kate DiCamillo: Sept. 30
A two-time winner of the Newbery Medal, the Minneapolis writer has teamed up with illustrator Sophie Blackwell, a two-time Caldecott Medal winner, for "The Beatryce Prophecy," due Sept. 28. A novel for middle-grade children set in medieval times, it follows a girl with a secret, her guardian goat, a monk and a young boy. DiCamillo is a former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, appointed by the Library of Congress. Her books have won multiple awards, and she was a finalist for the 2001 National Book Award for "The Tiger Rising."
Amor Towles: Oct. 13
Author of "A Gentleman in Moscow," which spent more than a year on the New York Times' bestseller list and was translated into more than 35 languages, Towles sets his new novel, "The Lincoln Highway," due Oct. 5, in 1954. Unfolding over 10 days, it follows a young man who is released from a juvenile work farm with plans to head to California. But two friends from the workhouse have stowed away in the warden's car, with plans to go to New York City.
William Kent Krueger: Nov. 3
A resident of St. Paul, Krueger is the bestselling author of the Cork O'Connor mysteries as well as two stand-alone novels, "Ordinary Grace" and "This Tender Land." His latest, "Lightning Strike," goes back in time to focus on the life of O'Connor as a child in northern Minnesota. A Native elder is found dead, a possible suicide, and young Cork is drawn into solving the mystery even though it causes strife between him and his father, who is the local sheriff. The book will be released Aug. 24.
A joint venture of the Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio, all Talking Volumes events are at 7 p.m. Tickets will go on sale at noon Tuesday at mprevents.org at $30 per event ($28 for Star Tribune subscribers and MPR members) plus fees, with discounts available for a full-season package.
Laurie Hertzel • @StribBooks
