Short Story Confession

This week Anthony Bukoski joins me on Realgoodwords.

Anthony Bukoski is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and a critically acclaimed short-story writer. If you are scoring at home, he was also our friend Aaron Brown's mentor!

I knew all of these things and yet I wan't thrilled to read his books. Nothing against Anthony Bukoski, but for some reason I've never been a huge fan of short stories. I am confessing that here, and now.

But here's the thing: Anthony Bukoski changed my tune on short stories. Or he cleaned my clock. Wait, I take that back. He didn't clean my clock. But plenty of his characters cleaned clocks (if you know what I mean). I was so thoroughly and pleasantly surprised by his writing, that I was a little nervous to actually talk to him.

I know that sounds strange - that if I liked a book I'd be nervous to talk to the author. What I've come to learn over the years is that liking a book doesn't mean that my conversation with them on Realgoodwords is going to be good. A lot of times I'm dissappointed. It might be me on this one, because I suspect that if I like an author I somehow think that I don't have to prepare as much for our interview.

Anyway, enough of my blog confessional. Anthony Bukoski did not disappoint. For me, the best moment of the interview was when I asked him WHERE he does his writing. I have never had an answer quite like Anthony's before.

Yes, I'm going to keep you hanging! Tune in live on Wednesday night from 6-7pm or Sunday Morning from 9-10. Or, after Wednesday you can listen to the archived interview here.

Here's a bio of Anthony:

ANTHONY BUKOSKI is the author of four other story collections,
including Children of Strangers (SMU, 1993), Polonaise (SMU, 1999),
and Time Between Trains (SMU, 2003), which was a Booklist Editors'
Choice. His stories have been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio,
National Public Radio, and in live performance in the "Selected Shorts"
series at Symphony Space in New York City. He teaches at his alma
mater, the University of Wisconsin in his hometown of Superior, where
his Polish émigré grandparents settled early in the last century.

Final week of the Fall Fundraiser at KAXE!

It's the Northern Observer Fall Fundraiser at KAXE and what better way to observe the world than to read? On this week's episode you'll get to hear the conversation that John Bauer and I had with Vicky Myron about her life as a librarian with a library cat. Her book is "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat That Touched the World". We've got copies available if you pledge your support to KAXE at $10/month - $120/year or above. You'll get "Dewey" along with your regular thank you gift of a KAXE totebag or t-shirt.

Call us 218-326-1234/1-800-662-5799 or pledge online!

You'll also hear an essay by our contributor Aaron Brown. Aaron's book, "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range" is also available as your thank-you gift for supporting independent community radio in Northern Minnesota.

What are you reading lately? In honor of Dewey Readmore Books the library cat - here's what I'm reading:

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak (for the KAXE bookclub discussion on 11/11/08 at 5:30pm)
"Sugar Plum Ballerinas - Plum Fantastic" by Whoopi Goldberg (I'll be talking with Whoopi later today!)
"The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland" by Bill Holm
"The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry" by Kathleen Flinn

Is Aaron Brown Overburdened?

That's the hard hitting question I'm asking this week on Realgoodwords. The answer is YES, Aaron Brown is definitely overburdened. But in a good way, really. (I'm not talking about his many jobs, his many sons or his lovely money-savin' wife.)

Aaron is probably no stranger to you - he's a frequent contributor to KAXE; especially to that other show I do, Between You and Me.

Aaron's a different kind of guy.
A) He's young and
B) he lives on the Iron Range.

And he's SUPREMELY interested in what exactly the Iron Range was, what it is and what it will be....

He's just published his first book called "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range" published by Red Step Press. Aaron has a knack for unpacking history with a modern, slightly sardonic twist. I guess I mean to say he's serious about his work and his beloved homeland, but he's not so serious about himself.

I'm not an Iron Ranger, let me be up front about that. I came from the land of non-flouridated water. In fact, overburden had to be explained to me...

Overburden are those giant piles made from digging those giant holes in the earth that were mined. They consist of mineral waste products and have the dual distinction of being both industrially ugly and starkly beautiful. Overburden is also putting too much stress on something or someone.

Overburden, as Aaron puts it, is really the story of the Iron Range:

"Our entire existence is tied to the past - tied to those big piles of overburden on the edges of all of our towns - the area is in modern terms only 100 years old - so it's 100 years of earth piled up by our ancestors.

Anyone who grew up on the Iron Range in the 1980's knew it was only a matter of time before the whole thing shut down. Kind of 'last one out turn out the lights'. It was assumed that you were going to leave if you could. If you had any kind of talent - in anything - it was expected that you take that talent someplace else."

And yet Aaron wanted to not only stay put, but dig in deeper into those piles of earth, and understand those that had come before him, and those that will go after him.

Tune in for our conversation this week. Aaron will also be co-hosting Between You and Me on Saturday October 18th from 10-noon - we'll be talking about what the Iron Range means to you.

Congratulations to Aaron on the publication of his first book! Check out his upcoming appearances:

Thursday Oct. 16th, Howard Street Booksellers - Hibbing, 5-7pm
Saturday Oct. 18th, Village Bookstore - Grand Rapids, 12-2pm

Wednesday Nov. 12th, Barnes and Noble - Duluth, 6:30pm

Tuesday Dec. 2nd, Grand Rapids Area Library, 7pm

Literary Events with Dylan Days

One of the cool things Aaron Brown and the folks with Dylan Days do every year is an acknowledgement of Bob Dylan's talent in terms of writing.

Each year they sponsor a writing contest - adults and students - both fiction and poetry.... and this year their first ever One-Act Play contest.

This year's literary speaker is Toby Thompson, he's author of "Positively Main Street: Bob Dylan's Minnesota". Toby will be hosting a Creative Writing Workshop on Friday May 23rd from 9-11am at the Hibbing High School. Pre-registration is necessary for this, email for more information. This is free with a 2008 Dylan Days pin. From 3-5 that afternoon Toby will be at the Howard Street Booksellers signing copies of his book...

Saturday May 24th from 3-5pm at the Hibbing Community College theater will be a reading of the winners of the Dylan Days writing contest as well as the premiere of the winner of the One-Act Play contest, directed by award-winning director Mike Ricci. This is free also with a Dylan Days pin.

There are lots more events going on with Dylan Days - check it out!