The Friends of the Hennepin County Library have announced the lineup for the 20th season of Pen Pals, the longest-running literary series in the Twin Cities.
The season will run September through next May, and guests include a poet laureate, two Pulitzer Prize winners, and a winner of the National Book Award (with music). Each writer will be in town for a 7:30 p.m. appearance, followed by an 11 a.m. appearance the next day. All events will take place at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins.
Here's the lineup:
Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times and the author of a number of novels about social justice, Sept. 22 and 23. (Read our 2014 interview with Anna Quindlen here.)
Billy Collins, twice the U.S. Poet Laureate, Oct.13 and 14.(Read our 2013 interview with Billy Collins here.)
Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher thrillers. Feb. 16 and 17.
Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer winner and author of "Olive Kitteridge" and "My Name is Lucy Barton." March 30 and 31. (Read our 2014 interview with Elizabeth Strout here.)
James McBride and the Good Lord Bird Band. McBride, a writer and jazz musician, is the author of "The Good Lord Bird," which won the National Book Award for fiction. May 11 and 12. (Read our 2014 interview with James McBride here.)
Tickets for the series begin at $160 and can be ordered beginning May 9 from www.supporthclib.org.
Individual tickets will go on sale Aug. 9.
