Rain Taxi Review of Books and the Poetry Society of America are sponsoring a celebration of Midwestern poetry this Friday, with an afternoon panel discussion on the future of Midwestern poetry and an evening reading with Robert Bly and others.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Rob Casper, program director of the Poetry Society of America, and will include poets Dobby Gibson, Sarah Fox, Sun Yung Shin, Michael Walsh and Bryan Thao Worra. The discussion begins at 4 p.m. Admission is free.

The evening reading brings together a remarkable group of Midwestern poets: Antler, recipient of the Whitman Prize and former poet laureate of Milwaukee; Bly, poet, translator and essayist; Marvin Bell, for many years the Flannery O'Connor Professor of Letters at the Iowa Writers' Workshop; Heid Erdrich, author of three collections of poetry and recipient of a Minnesota Book Award; Ray Gonzalez, author of 10 books of poetry; Mary Kinzie, recipient of the Folger Shakespeare Library's O.B. Hardison Jr. poetry prize; Jim Moore, author of six collections of poetry, and Thylias Moss, poet, essayist and playwright.

Admission to the 7 p.m. reading is $6. Information is available at www.raintaxi.com.

Also ...

•"Doing Democracy With Circles," by Jennifer Ball, Wayne Caldwell and Kay Pranis, is the latest book to be published by Living Justice Press in St. Paul.

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Poet Heid Erdrich.

•Trolley Car Press of Minneapolis will publish "Third and Long," by Bob Katz, in July. The book -- "a novel for hard times," the cover says -- is about a dying factory town in the Midwest that hires a Notre Dame football star to manage the plant.

•"Not One Clue," by Lois Greiman, will be published this month by Random House. Greiman, born in North Dakota and now a Minnesotan, has published more than 30 books.

•"Minnesota's Golden Age of Wrestling: From Verne Gagne to the Road Warriors," by George Schire, has been published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

•MaryJanice Davidson's new book, "Undead and Unfinished," will be published in July by Berkley. Davidson, who lives in Minneapolis, is the bestselling author of a number of books, including "Undead and Unwelcome."

•"Losing Camille," a collection of short stories by Paul Kilgore, has been published by Black Lawrence Press of Pittsburgh. Kilgore's stories have appeared in Prairie Schooner and Minnesota Monthly. He lives in Duluth.