Leslie Miller a finalist for Minnesota Book Award
Finalists for the Minnesota Book Awards have been announced, and Dr. Leslie Miller, professor of English at St. Thomas, made the poetry category’s short list for her collection The Resurrection Trade.
The Resurrection Trade, Miller’s fifth book of poems, delves into the mysteries of early women’s anatomical studies and medical illustrations, where she finds women’s lives both tragic and comic. The book was published in 2007 by Graywolf Press.
Dr. Leslie Miller
Winners will be announced at the Minnesota Book Awards ceremony held at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Paul. A reception, book signing and sales will begin at 6:30 p.m. Cathy Wurzer, host of Minnesota Public Radio’s Morning Edition, will host the event.
The sponsors of the book awards, the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, also will host Chat it Up, a series of readings at local libraries featuring Minnesota Book Award finalists. The series runs March 13 to April 11, and all events are free and open to the public.
Miller will read at two of these events: 2 p.m. Saturday, March 30, at the St. Paul Central Library, and 6 p.m. Friday, April 11, at Kieran’s Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis.
Also up for grabs is the Readers’ Choice Award. Readers may vote for one of the 32 finalists during March at any local library or bookseller or online at www.twincities.com/bookawards.
In January, 24 judges, including writers, teachers, scholars, booksellers and librarians from around Minnesota, selected the finalists for the awards in eight categories: children’s literature, general nonfiction, genre fiction, memoir and creative nonfiction, novel and short story, Minnesota, poetry and young adult literature. A panel of three judges in each category will select the winners this month.
The other finalists in the poetry category are William Reichard (The Brightness), Éireann Lorsung (Music for Landing Planes By) and Deborah Keenan (Willow Room, Green Door).
For more information and to order tickets, visit www.thefriends.org.
