Illustrator and artist Arthur Geisert will be in the Twin Cities this month to sign books and talk about printmaking. Geisert's etchings have been exhibited in the Art Institute of Chicago, and his work has appeared in the New Yorker and Horn Book magazines. His picture books have won many awards. His current book, "Country Road ABC: An Illustrated Journey Through America's Farmland," was published in May. He set the book in and around the farm town of Bernard, Iowa (population: 98), and includes modern (and unusual) alphabet examples: "A is for Ammonia Fertilizer," and "R is for Rust."

He'll be at the Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Av., St. Paul, at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 23, and will demonstrate printmaking and lithography at 10 a.m. Oct. 25 in Room 120, 113 Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 21st Av. S., Mpls., on the University of Minnesota campus. Both events are free and open to the public.

Also...

•Somali author Nadifa Moha-med will give a talk and answer questions about her novel, "Black Mamba Boy," at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Loft at Open Book, 1011 Washington Av. S., Mpls. Mohamed will appear via Skype, which will be hooked up in the Performance Hall. Her book is the winner of the Betty Trask Prize for Debut Fiction, was long-listed for the Orange Prize, and short-listed for the Dylan Thomas Prize. This is the Loft's first Skype event.

•Nominations are open for the 23rd annual Minnesota Book Awards, which honor authors and artists in these categories: children's literature, general nonfiction, genre fiction, memoir and creative nonfiction, Minnesota, novel and short story, poetry and young people's literature. Nominations close at 5 p.m. Dec. 10. Finalists will be announced Jan. 30, and winners will be announced April 16.

•The Twin Cities GLBT Oral History Project will host a reception in Minneapolis to promote its new book, "Queer Twin Cities," a collection of essays about Minnesota's gay communities past and present. The talk will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at the West Bank Social Center, 501 Cedar Av. S., Mpls.

•"Nightshade," a young-adult novel by Andrea Cremer, has been published by Penguin Press. Cremer lives in Minneapolis. She'll launch the book at 2 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Minnetonka Community Library, 18524 Excelsior Blvd., Minnetonka; at 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Ridgedale Library, 12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka, and at a party at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Red Balloon, 891 Grand Av., St. Paul. Guests are invited to attended the Red Balloon party dressed as their favorite character from literature.