Fact & Fiction: A Conversation on Literary Craft with writers Dessa, Curtis Sittenfeld, & Nora McInerny
with a DJ set by Sims
Saturday, August 31, 2019
6:30 pm Doors // 7:30 pm Show
All ages
SOLD OUT // $15 Advance // $19 At the door (admission only)
SOLD OUT // $29 Advance ticket along with a paperback copy of Dessa’s book, "My Own Devices"
SOLD OUT // $89 VIP includes advance ticket, premium seating, meet & greet with the writers, and copies of Dessa's "My Own Devices," Curtis's "You Think It, I'll Say It," and Nora's "No Happy Endings"
A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Minnesota Literacy Council.
Book sales provided by Magers & Quinn.
Three powerful literary voices, one incredible night of conversation on craft. The evening will include a cocktail hour with DJ set by Sims, a 70-minute conversation with the writers followed by a Q & A session and book-signing, and an Izzy’s Ice Cream social to end the night.
Dessa is a rapper, a singer, an essayist, and a proud member of the Doomtree hip-hop crew. She's performed around the world at opera houses and rock clubs and while standing on barroom tables. She's landed on the Billboard Top 200 list as a solo artist (Parts of Speech, Chime), as a Doomtree member (All Hands), and as a contributor to The Hamilton Mixtape. As a writer, she's contributed to the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Minnesota Public Radio, the Star Tribune (Minneapolis), literary journals across the country, and has published two short collections of poetry and essays (Spiral Bound, A Pound of Steam). She now splits her time between Manhattan, Minneapolis, and a tour van cruising at six miles per hour above the posted limit.
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Curtis Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of five novels: Prep, The Man of My Dreams, American Wife, Sisterland, and Eligible. Her first story collection, You Think It, I’ll Say It, was published in 2018 and picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Her books have been selected by The New York Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists, optioned for television and film, and translated into thirty languages. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Esquire, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, and on “This American Life.” A graduate of Stanford University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Curtis has interviewed Michelle Obama for Time; appeared as a guest on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” CBS’s “Early Show,” and PBS’s Newshour; and twice been a strangely easy “Jeopardy!” answer.
Nora McInerny is a writer, storyteller, and creator. A reluctant grief expert, she miscarried her second baby, lost her father to cancer, and lost her husband, Aaron, to a brain tumor within six weeks in 2014. Known for bringing heart and humor to tough topics, McInerny wrote the critically acclaimed memoirs It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) and No Happy Endings; she writes essays for Elle, Cosmopolitan, Time, Slate, and Vox. McInerny created the Hot Young Widows Club, hosts the award-winning podcast “Terrible, Thanks for Asking,” founded the nonprofit Still Kickin, and spoke on TED’s mainstage. She was voted Most Humorous by the Annunciation Catholic School Class of 1998.
Sims grew up in Minnesota, an active part of the busy and fiercely independent Minneapolis hip-hop scene. In high school, he made friends with the classmates that would eventually become his cohorts in Doomtree - the seven-member rap collective now responsible for some of this era's most interesting, genre-defying releases. Over the past decade Sims has released a host of projects, both as a solo artist (Lights Out Paris, Bad Time Zoo, Wild Life EP, Field Notes) and as a member of Doomtree (No Kings, All Hands, and many others). He's toured the world from Pittsburgh to Prague, playing festivals like Glastonbury, Riot Fest, and SXSW. He's earned and re-earned his reputation as a thoughtful artist with an unstoppable live show. (When he calls "both hands up" - now "both feel up" - rooms around the world have felt their floorboards flex as the entire crowd goes airborne.)
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