We have been privileged to welcome the following writers to our campus for readings and discussions of their works and host the following events, all as part of the Two Rivers Reading Series on the Coon Rapids Campus:
Spring 2018
There’s Something I Want You to Do (short story collection)
Author Charles Baxter
Wednesday, April 4
12 to 12:50 pm and 2 to 2:50 pm
Legacy Room
Coon Rapids Campus
Poster
Fall 2017
A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota
Wednesday, Nov. 1
12 to 12:50 pm & 2 to 2:50 pm
Legacy Room
Coon Rapids Campus
Poster
Fall 2016
Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota
Featuring Alexs Pate, Shannon Gibney, Taiyon Coleman
Nov. 2, 2016
12 to 12:50 pm & 2 to 2:50 pm
Legacy Room
Coon Rapids Campus
Spring 2016
Bao Phi read and discussed his book of poetry Sông I Sing,
April 6, 2016
12 to 12:50 pm & 2 to 2:50 pm
Legacy Room
Coon Rapids Campus
Fall 2015
Two Rivers Reading Series at the Coon Rapids Campus
Pamela Carter Joern read from her collection In Reach, which was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award in fiction, and whose short stories are interconnected.
Spring 2015
Two Rivers Reading Series at the Coon Rapids Campus
Ethan Rutherford read from his collection of stories, The Peripatetic Coffin, which was named Best Book of Summer by Publisher’s Weekly. Rutherford was also selected as a Barnes and Noble Discover New Writers Pick and has won the Minnesota Book Award.
Fall 2014
Two Rivers Reading Series at the Coon Rapids Campus
Poet Matt Rasmussen discussed his award-winning book, Black Aperture, which explores his brother’s suicide from various angles in poems that have been called “transformative” and an “exquisite labor of [. . .] witness.” Rasmussen won the Walt Whitman Award and the Minnesota Book Award. He was also a finalist for the National Book Award.
Spring 2014
Two Rivers Reading Series at the Coon Rapids Campus
Graphic novelist Tyler Page read from and discussed Nothing Better.
Fall 2013
Two Rivers Reading Series at the Coon Rapids Campus
Poet Cary Waterman read from her collection, Book of Fire.
Two Rivers Reading Series at the Coon Rapids Campus
Marya Hornbacher read from her memoir, Madness: A Bipolar Life, which discusses the challenges and hopes of living with mental illness.
Spring 2013
Two Rivers Reading Series at the Coon Rapids Campus
Scott Wrobel, Anoka-Ramsey instructor, read from and discussed his short story collection Cul de Sac.
Penumbra Theater Event at the Coon Rapids Campus
Penumbra Theater presented a reading and discussion of Spunk, a play based on three short stories by Zora Neale Hurston.
Fall 2012
Kate Kysar read from and discussed her poetry book Pretend the World. The event was exceptionally well-attended, with nearly 200 students in the audience.
Diane Wilson discussed Spirit Car, her memoir, which combines fictional stories with historical facts.
Spring 2012
Swati Avasthi read from and discussed her new novel Split, a Minnesota Book Award nominee. One reviewer stated that Split is “a great novel, full of compelling characters and a knock-your-socks-off plot.” Split is a New Voices Pick, a Young Adult Fiction Winner (International Reading Association Award), and a Best Fiction for Young Adults Award Winner (YALSA).
Jim Moore read from and discuss his seventh poetry collection, Invisible Strings. The Star Tribune said about Moore’s poetry, “With his simple poems that celebrate humanity and articulate pain, Jim Moore elevates economy of phrase to an art.” His poems have appeared in numerous publications and journals, including American Poetry Review, The Nation, The New Yorker, and The Pushcart Prize Anthology.
Spring 2011
Wang Ping, the award-winning writer of poetry, fiction, and essays, returned to Anoka-Ramsey to read from her book of short stories, The Last Communist Virgin, a Minnesota Book Award-winning story collection about modern China and the contemporary Chinese-American experience.
A Reading/Discussion of August Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with Penumbra Theatre
Associate Director Dominic Taylor, Education Director Sarah Bellamy, and cast members from St. Paul’s Penumbra Theatre Company lead a reading and discussion of this famous Wilson play. Additionally, students, alumni, faculty and staff enjoyed Anoka-Ramsey Day at the Guthrie, where they watched a performance of Wilson’s play and participated in a post-play discussion.
Tracy Youngblom and Richard Broderick Poetry Reading
Anoka-Ramsey Community College faculty Tracy Youngblom read from her collection of poetry titled Driving to Heaven. Former Anoka-Ramsey faculty Richard Broderick read from his two books of poetry titled Woman Lake and Rain Dance.
Fall 2010
Wang Ping read from her book of short stories, The Last Communist Virgin, a Minnesota Book Award-winning story collection about modern China and the contemporary Chinese-American experience.
Patricia Smith read from her poetry collection, Blood Dazzler, a 2008 National Book Award finalist. Blood Dazzler chronicles the human, physical and emotional toll exacted by Hurricane Katrina.
Spring 2010
Fiction on a Stick: An Anthology of Minnesota Writers, edited by Daniel Slager.
Several writers presented at this session:
John Reimringer, stories and upcoming novel
Sarah Stonich, novels: These Granite Islands and The Ice Chorus
Diane Wilson, essays and memoir
Sean Hill, poetry: Blood Ties and Brown Liquor
Fall 2009
Penumbra Theatre Company, Radio Golf by August Wilson
Sandra Benitez, The Weight of All Things
Geoff Herbach, The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg
Spring 2009
Kao Kalia Yang, The Latehomecomer
Heid Erdrich, National Monuments
Fall 2008
Penumbra Theatre Company, Fences by August Wilson
Spring 2008
Penumbra Theatre Company, The Piano Lesson by August Wilson
Fall 2007
Lawrence Sutin, Jack and Rochelle
Spring 2007
Ed-Bok Lee, Real Karaoke People
Nicole Helget, The Summer of Ordinary Ways
Fall 2006
Jane Hamilton, Disobedience
Spring 2006
Susan Power, Roofwalker
Fall 2005
Deborah Keenan, Good Heart
Spring 2005
Sheila O’Connor, Where No Gods Came
Fall 2004
Anthony Bukoski, Time Between Trains
Spring 2004
Louise Erdrich, Tracks
Fall 2003
Lawrence Sutin, Jack and Rochelle
Spring 2003
Alison McGhee, Rainlight and Shadow Baby
Fall 2002
Diane Glancy, Pushing the Bear
Spring 2002
Mark Vinz, Late Night Calls: Prose Poems and Short Fiction and Minnesota Gothic and Affinities
Spring 2001
Robert Dana, Summer
Spring 2000
Robert Bly, Morning Poems and Collected Poems
Fall 1999
David Haynes, Right By My Side and Heathens
