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The Literary Book Club "Talking Volumes" Welcomes Authors Sandra Cisneros and Rita Dove for the Spring 2009 Installment of the Series

February 11, 2009

(St. Paul, Minn.)—February 12, 2009—"Talking Volumes," a partnership of Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune in collaboration with The Loft Literary Center, announced today its spring 2009 lineup. In April, the series welcomes Sandra Cisneros, author of the beloved classic "House on Mango Street," to Washburn High School in Minneapolis. In May, the series welcomes Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Rita Dove to the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.

The host for the Talking Volumes series is Kerri Miller, host of Minnesota Public Radio's "Midmorning" program. Miller joins series authors in a conversation that illuminates both the literary works as well as the writers behind them.

Sandra Cisneros
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 21
Where: Washburn High School, 201 W. 49th St., Minneapolis
Tickets: $20. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a discount. Contact the Fitzgerald Theater box office, 651-290-1221 or fitzgerald@mpr.org.

Sandra Cisneros is celebrating the 25th anniversary of "The House on Mango Street," her acclaimed novella of a young girl growing up in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago. The book is a standard in high schools and colleges across the country. She is working on several new projects, including a collection of fiction titled "Infinito" and "Writing in My Pajamas," a book on how she teaches writing.

For this event, Cisneros will join host Miller for a conversation about the anniversary of her novella and her new projects.

Rita Dove
When: 7 p.m. Monday, May 11
Where: Minnesota Public Radio's The Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul
Tickets: $20. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a discount. Contact the Fitzgerald Theater box office, 651-290-1221 or fitzgerald@mpr.org.

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Rita Dove will discuss her most recent publication, Sonata Mulattica. The book-length lyric narrative was inspired by history and imagination. It re-creates the life of a nineteenth-century mixed-race virtuoso violinist, George Polgreen Bridgetower. He travels to Vienna to meet Ludwig van Beethoven. The great composer's subsequent sonata is originally dedicated to the young mulatto, but George, exuberant with acclaim, offends Beethoven over a woman. From this crucial encounter evolves a grandiose yet melancholy poetic tale.

For this event, Dove will join host Miller for a conversation about her work.

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Press Contacts:
Christina Schmitt
Minnesota Public Radio
651-290-1449
cschmitt@mpr.org