"Conversations With Jon Hassler," by Joseph Plut, will be published this month by Nodin Press of Minneapolis. Plut was a longtime friend of Hassler, and the conversations took place over many years. "Jon and I speculated that we were involved in a unique undertaking," Plut writes in the preface, "that never before had an author been interviewed about many of her/his novels by the same interviewer."
Hassler, the author of "Staggerford" and many other novels, died in 2008. The publication launch will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Jon Hassler Library on the Brainerd campus of Central Lakes College.
Also ...
•A new edition of "The Salt Ecstasies," by James L. White, with an introduction by poet Mark Doty, will be published in July by Graywolf Press. White, the author of four poetry collections, lived in Minneapolis for many years. He died in 1981.
•Two more books in the Charles Baxter-edited literary series are scheduled for August publication with Graywolf Press. "The Art of Description," by Mark Doty, and "The Art of Recklessness," by Dean Young, will be the eighth and ninth in the series.
•"On the Farm, Down the Road: Collected Poems" by Minnesota writer Ronald Gower has been published by Blueroad Press. Gower will be joined by seven other poets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Arts Center, 315 S. Minnesota Av., St. Peter, Minn.
•Open Book will mark its 10th anniversary with a celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Open Book, 1011 Washington Av. S., Minneapolis. There will be activities for children, discussions, readings, classes, tours and giveaways.
•"Carew," the memoir of former Minnesota Twin Rod Carew, has been republished by the University of Minnesota Press. The memoir, written with Ira Berkow, was originally published in 1979. The new edition carries a foreword by Torii Hunter.
