Tagged: books

High school students from Detroit to Marquette will be participating in this year’s Great Michigan Read, a free, statewide book club put on by the Michigan Humanities Council.

This year’s book is "Arc of Justice" by Kevin Boyle. It’s a true story about an African American physician in the 1920s that moves to an all-white neighborhood in Detroit and defends his family’s right to live there.

This week's Artpod features an interview from the "Michigan on the Page." It's a web-only series from Michigan Radio, where authors from around the state are interviewed about their own books, about Michigan books in general, and about what it means to be a Michigan writer.

On today's podcast, we turn the mic over to Brian Short, the series' curator, and author Bonnie Jo Campbell.

Campbell's most recent book is the novel Once Upon a River, which has gotten rave reviews. Her previous book, American Salvage, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Bonnie Jo Campbell not only writes great Michigan books, she knows a lot about great Michigan books, too.

Campbell's most recent book, the novel Once Upon a River, earned a profile in Poets and Writers Magazine and was listed on Newsweek's  10 Must-Read Summer Books.

It has received critical acclaim from the New York Times Book Review, the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Parade, NPR, and Booklist.

Her previous book, American Salvage, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Before coming into the studio, we had spoken about Michigan books, and to my surprise Campbell came into the studio with a big box full of books  - books either about the state or by Michigan writers.

We couldn't talk about all of them in the interview, so here's the list of books that Bonnie Jo Campbell brought:

• How to Fly by Rachael Perry
• Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open by Diane Seuss
• Autopsy of an Engine by Lolita Hernandez
• The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway
• Within the Lighted City by Lisa Lenzo
• The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
• Road to Wellville by T.C. Boyle
• Freshwater Boys by Adam Schuitema
• The Legend of Sleeping Bear by Kathy-Jo Wargin
• Eden Springs by Laura Kasischke
• Laughing Whitefish by Robert Traver
• Stitches by David Small
• Of Woods and Other Things by Emma Pticher
• Michigan's Eastern Massasauga--An Historic Distribution by Tom Beauvais
• "Brown Dog" by Jim Harrison
• "Wanting Only to be Heard" by Jack Driscoll
• "The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit" by Michael Zadoorian

Campbell had a couple of other recommendations, though she didn't bring the books with her: 

• The Lake, the River, and the Other Lake by Steve Amick
• The Women Were Leaving the Men by Andy Mozina

We spoke in Michigan Radio's studios about why people are drawn to dark books and what the difference is between why Hemingway's characters hunt and why Campbell's characters hunt. And despite her protest, we think she sounded awfully sophisticated throughout the entire discussion.

A Michigan book publisher is using social media to update a popular 19th century publishing method made famous by Charles Dickens.

The University of Michigan Press will serialize two new novels using Facebook, beginning July 18.

Jeremiah Chamberlin wears many hats.

He is a published writer whose work has appeared in Glimmer Train, Flyway and Michigan Quarterly Review, and he is writing an ongoing series about independent bookstores for Poets and Writers.

Independent booksellers are continuously looking for ways to compete with online retail giants like Amazon.

A recent New York Times article highlights how some independent bookstores are taking advantage of something online retails can't provide: in-person author events. Here's an excerpt:

On today's podcast, we talk with Michigan author Steve Amick about writing, humor, and the character of writers from the state. It's part of Michigan Radio's occasional literary series, Michigan on the Page.