This collection encompasses 50-plus years of interviews, readings, speeches, and reports on the vibrant literary scene in Minnesota. Not only home to giants F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, our state has an array of incredible contemporary poets, novelists and playwrights. Their words make up majority of this collection.
Repeatedly being named the “Most Literate City in the United States,” the Twin Cities has played host to numerous visiting national writers via book tours, festivals, and lectures. Many recordings of these are also included.
This project was funded by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.
May 20, 1975 - MPR reporter Bill Siemering talks with poet Robert Bly about the philosophy of mother conscience and the advantages offered if the human race were to get back to this particular way of meditation.
June 2, 1975 - Harrison Salisbury, journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, speaking at the Midwest Working Journalists Forum on the University of Minnesota campus.
June 29, 1975 - Poet Robert Bly reads his poems and the works of others in a talk given at Saint John's University Forum. Bly also gives his viewpoints on life and his philosophical impressions.
July 21, 1975 - John C. Rezmerski comments on poetry readings as part of Minnesota Poetry Out Loud.
August 25, 1975 - MPR’s Gary Eichten interviews columnist and author Jim Klobuchar, who discusses diversity, immigration, and racism in Minnesota.
August 25, 1975 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with columnist and author Jim Klobuchar, who reflects on immigrants to the Iron Range and how they made their living.
August 26, 1975 - Jim Klobuchar comments on Hubert Humphrey's "bleeding heart politics" and how it affected the national picture of American politics.
August 27, 1975 - KCCM’s Bill Siemering reports on Sinclair Lewis' "Main Street" and small town life. Report includes commentary and interviews.
August 27, 1975 - Jim Klobuchar discusses local professional sports teams, specifically the Minnesota Vikings and the Minnesota Twins, as well as the benefits of a new stadium.
September 4, 1975 - MPR’s Bill Siemering presents a feature on the Poetry Out Loud program in Minnesota. Siemering interviews John C. Rezmerski, the coordinator of poetry readings in local communities, who highlights the importance of poets in conversation with their audiences.