RON DE BEAULIEU: Presents “St. Paul Murder & Mayhem.” 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

JOHN HALTER: Reads from his memoir “Driving Dad Home.” 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

MIDSTREAM READING SERIES: Prose and poetry by Francine Conley, Tom Cassidy, Christine Mounts and Mike Hazard. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, Unity Church-Unitarian, 732 Holly Ave., St. Paul.

MARK HAYES PEACOCK: Author of “Six Short Stories” reads one of his “mangled” fairytales. Noon Wednesday, Feb. 7, Osceola Senior Center, Osceola, Wis.

What else is going on

Graywolf Press has two finalists for National Book Critics Circle Awards. Saskia Hamilton’s “All Souls” is nominated in poetry and Natascha Bruce is among finalists for the Gregg Barrios Book Translation Prize for “Owlish” by Dorothy Tse. Winners will be announced March 21 at the New School in New York City in a ceremony free and open to the public.

Shannon Gibney just keeps collecting awards. Her speculative memoir of transracial adoption, “The Girl I am, Was, and Never Will Be,” was included in the CCBC Annual Best of the Year list in the biography/autobiography and memoir category, after recently winning a Michael Printz Honor from the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards. “When We Become Ours,” an anthology of growing up as an adoptee, edited by Gibney and Nicole Chung, was listed in the young adult fiction category, although the writing is in a variety of genres. CCBC is the Cooperative Children’s Book Center of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin.

Chris McCormick (Jenna Meacham / Macmillan Publishers)

Chris McCormick, associate professor in the creative writing program at Minnesota State University, Mankato, is one of 35 writers in the nation to receive a $25,000 National Endowment for the Arts writing fellowship. McCormick is the author of a novel, “The Gimmicks,” a New York Times Editors” Choice, and a short story collection, “Desert Boys,” winner of the American Library Association Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award. His essays and stories have appeared in national publications.

Who doesn’t love free books? Minnesota Historical Society knows you do, so they are offering “Making Minnesota,” an activity book to help children engage with all things about this state, and the history that made it all possible. Kids can create their own illustrations and drawings, maps, and lists of favorite places, while learning what makes Minnesota unique. For more information, contact MakingMinnesotainfo@mnhs.org.

.

Related Articles

Readers and writers: Superior’s other shore, a celebrated novel, and poets on poems

Literary calendar for week of Jan. 28

Finalists for the 2024 Minnesota Book Awards

Production on a new murder mystery film begins in St. Paul

Minnesota author honored by ALA for children’s book