The finalists in the ArtStart Mississippi River Poetry Contest will read aloud at the Harriet Island Pavilion in St. Paul. The works of Kris Bigalk, Kirsten Dierking, Robert Grunst, Julia Klatt Singer and Francine Marie Tolf were chosen from a field of nearly 40 manuscripts.
The winning poet will receive $250 and will be named "Bard of the Mississippi." The reading will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Harriet Island, with the newly anointed Bard reading again at 12:30 p.m.
Also …
• Gayla Marty's 2010 memoir, "Memory of Trees: A Daughter's Story of a Family Farm," is now out in paperback from the University of Minnesota Press.
• Minneapolis writer Charles Baxter has edited a collection of short stories by Sherwood Anderson, published recently by the Library of America.
• "Out of the Blue: The True Story of Two Sisters and Their Miraculous Survival of One of the Most Powerful Tornadoes in Minnesota History," by Scott Thoma, has been published by North Star Press. Thoma will donate part of the proceeds toward a monument for Tracy, Minn.
• Edina writer Terri Peterson Smith has written "Off the Beaten Page," a travel guide for book lovers and book groups. Her recommended Twin Cities stops include Open Book, the Mill City Museum and a St. Paul Summit Avenue F. Scott Fitzgerald tour. She will discuss the book at 7 p.m. May 28 at Barnes & Noble in the Galleria.
