Marjane Satrapi

This past Thursday Marjane Satrapi gave a little chat in Minneapolis. Awesome doesn't begin to describe it. She talked about getting her start in the world of graphic novels (or as she would have it, comic books), her childhood in Iran, and all things politically relevant. Her new book, Chicken With Plums, is out now, and she talked a bit about its inception. It's a haunting story of loss, based on Satrapi's great-uncle, one of Iran's most beloved tar players. Much of what Satrapi spoke about can be found in these interviews:

Salon
Powell's
Star Tribune

And while you're at it, check out some of Chicken With Plums over at VQR.

And finally: a film version of Persepolis is due to hit US theaters next year—fully animated in Satrapi's glorious black and white. And Gena Rowlands will voicing Satrapi's grandmother. All fantastic news.

New Reading Series at the 331 Club

There's a nascent reading series in the works at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis (331 13th Ave NE). It's so nascent, in fact, that it doesn't have a name yet, but it's being launched tomorrow night, Tuesday, 5:30-7:30.

If you want another venue for your own reading, or just want to support your fellow writers, please attend. If turnout is good, the series can continue. And the 331 is seriously one of the coolest bars in town.

Update: The series does have a name: New Works. Here's the lineup for 10/24:

+Molly Balcom is a playwright/director/producer working in found spaces and galleries with experimental and new texts. Currently a student at Goddard College, Molly studies food and theater.

+Lily Crooks is very mysterious. She lives in Minneapolis.

+David Hansen has been published most recently in The Connecticut Review. His work can also be found in the Tampa Review, and will be featured in an upcoming installment of "Writers in the Attic" on Connecticut Public Radio. He is also an M.C. and founding member of the local hip-hop crew MC/VL.

+Hilary Holmes was farm raised and goes to community college. She's never been divorced, so the newports did hurt more. Hilary writes poems, and reads them aloud when coerced by others.

+Shanai Matteson grew up in Northern Minnesota, where she learned not to overdrive the weather conditions. She works in a natural history museum and writes stories about people, animals, and landscapes.

+Katie Nichol lives on a big hill in Minneapolis with two cats. She enjoys shiny things, food, and beaches. In December, Katie hopes to receive her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota. Her chapbook 'Near' is available from Spout Press ( www.spoutpress.com).

+Jason Weidemann lives in Minneapolis where he is an editor at the University of Minnesota Press. His website is: www.fiveoclockbot.com.

+LES OURSES is two parts December's Architects, and one part The Dad in Common.

Two Good Things

Good Societies
Tuesday, October 10, 7:30 p.m.
Cowles Auditorium

A dialogue with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Tracy Kidder and Lawrence Jacobs, Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair in Political Studies, Humphrey Institute. Kidder will also read from his recent work. For more information, see the Creative Writing website http://english.cla.umn.edu/creativewriting/events/events.htm

University of Minnesota's MFA/Loft Reading Series
Wednesday, October 18th, 7:30 p.m.
The Loft Literary Center

Come hear U of M MFA students, along with local writer John Medeiros, read their work at The Loft. Student writers tba. If you would like to take part in future readings, please contact Katie Leo.

John Medeiros' work has appeared in Gulf Coast, Willow Springs, Water~Stone Review, Evergreen Chronicles, Chiron Review, and Writers Against the War. He is the recipient of a MN State Arts Board grant, Gulf Coast's First Place Nonfiction Award, and the Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Fellowship for Emerging Artists. He is a graduate of Hamline University's MFA Program, where his memoir Self, Divided was awarded the Outstanding Creative Nonfiction Thesis. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is currently Writer-in-Residence at the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley, Minnesota. He is co-curator, along with Andrea Jenkins, of the SASE: GLBT Reading Series for SASE: The Write Place.

Twin Cities Book Festival

The sixth annual Twin Cities Book Festival will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2006, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Minneapolis Community & Technical College, conveniently located near Loring Park in Downtown Minneapolis. Featured speakers and events include:

Readings by:
Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Mary Roach (author of the macabre bestsellers Stiff and Spook)
post-modern cult author Mark Z. Danielewski
acclaimed poet John Yau
Larry Sutin (author of All Is Change: The Two-Thousand-Year Journey of Buddhism to the West)

Conversations with:
cooking maven Julie Powell (author of Julie & Julia) with author Ann Bauer
rock critic Steven Lee Beeber with Mary Lucia

Children's events:
Newbery-Honor winner Shannon Hale
A Lemony Snicket Party celebrating the release of The End

Plus!
Amanda Adams discusses the myths of mermaids
The Year's Best Fantasy editors Kelly Link and Gavin Grant
The Twin Cities Book Festival Celebrity Spelling Bee

And don't miss the Used Book Fair, Lit Mag Fair, Fun with Book Arts, and scores of book, magazine, and community exhibitors! Visit Rain Taxi's website for more details.

The Twin Cities Book Festival thanks its media sponsors City Pages and Minnesota Public Radio. This activity is made possible, in part, by funds provided by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council from an appropriation by the Minnesota Legislature.