Minnesota Public Radio Presents "Friends of Bill Holm" with Robert Bly and Jim Harrison at The Fitzgerald Theater Tuesday, April 14

Apr 28, 2009

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14

WHERE: Minnesota Public Radio's The Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul

TICKETS: $25. Ticket proceeds will go to a Bill Holm fund for authors, artists and community programs.

WHAT: Join Minnesota Public Radio and a cast of authors and artists to celebrate the life of beloved Minnesota author Bill Holm. The event, "Friends of Bill Holm" with authors Robert Bly and Jim Harrison will be hosted by Fred Child, host of Performance Today and part of the Poetry Radio Project (a collaboration between American Public Media and the Poetry Foundation).

The evening will begin with a shot of Bill's favorite spirit, Reyka Icelandic vodka. Dan Chouinard and Bill Chouinard, along with a special appearance by soprano Maria Jette, will pull together a variety of musical elements that Bill Holm would have enjoyed.

TUNE IN: "Friends of Bill Holm" will be recorded for broadcast at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18 on all Classical Minnesota Public Radio stations (for National Poetry Month), including KSJN 99.5 FM in the Twin Cities; and at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 19 on all Minnesota Public Radio stations, including KNOW 91.1 FM in the Twin Cities.

More about Bill Holm

A poet and essayist who traveled the world, Bill Holm died this past February. He was 65.

Holm was born in 1943 on a farm north of the town of Minneota. He continued to live there while working as an English professor at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, where he taught for 27 years before retiring in 2007.

He wrote more than a dozen books, including "The Windows of Brimnes," named for his cottage near the small fishing village of Hofsos in Iceland. He spent his summers there in the land of his ancestors.

Some of Holm's other titles: "Boxelder Bug Variations" (1985), "Coming Home Crazy" (2000), "Eccentric Islands" (2000), "The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth" (2001), and "Playing the Black Piano" (2004).

About the evening's presenters

Poet and translator Robert Bly was Bill Holm's mentor and close friend. Bly was born in western Minnesota in 1926; his work "Iron John: A Book About Men" is an international bestseller, which has been translated into many languages. Recent books of poetry include "What Have I Ever Lost by Dying? Collected Prose Poems and Meditations on the Insatiable Soul."

Jim Harrison, Bill Holm's longtime friend, sounding board, and dining companion, is a novelist, essayist, poet, screen writer and food writer. Anointed "the poet laureate of appetite" by Salon.com, his work has appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Outside, Playboy, Men's Journal, and The New York Times Book Review.

The evening's host, Fred Child, is the host of American Public Media's Performance Today, the most-listened-to classical music radio show in America. Fred Child interviewed Bill Holm in 2008.

Emilie Buchwald, the publisher of Milkweed Editions from 1979 to 2003, was Bill's publisher/editor for more than 25 years. Buchwald was the 2002 McKnight Distinguished Artist and is a Kay Sexton Award winner, who commissioned important books like "Transforming a Rape Culture" and "Toward the Livable City."

Phebe Hanson is a poet who appeared with Bill on the Fitzgerald Theater stage and toured the state with him in the 1970s as part of the "Minnesota Poetry Out Loud" series sponsored by the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her collection "Why Still Dance" was published by Nodin Press, 2004.

Jim Lenfestey, Bill's good friend, has worked in academia, advertising and journalism (as an editorial writer for the Star Tribune, where he won several Page One awards for excellence). He writes poetry, reviews, articles and essays, including "The Urban Coyote: Howlings on Family, Community and the Search for Peace and Quiet."

John Calvin Rezmerski, poet laureate of the League of Minnesota Poets, taught creative writing and journalism at Gustavus Adolphus College, and has led writing and storytelling workshops for more than 30 years. The founder and coordinator of "Minnesota Poetry Out Loud," he has long been committed to bringing poetry to non-traditional audiences.

Barton Sutter is the only author to win the Minnesota Book Award in three different categories. Primarily a poet, Sutter has published six books that include essays, fiction and poetry, as well as essays and stories in dozens of magazines. His poem "Not Sleeping at Bill Holm's House" was one of Bill's favorites. Sutter performs Bill's work with his musical brother Ross Sutter.

More about The Fitzgerald Theater

The Fitzgerald Theater is committed to programming that reflects the audience and mission of Minnesota Public Radio. This 1,000-seat theater acts as MPR's largest broadcast studio, with airwaves reaching millions of people tuned in to A Prairie Home Companion. Our staged productions commission authors, artists and radio hosts to create intellectually stimulating programs that delight and enlighten our vast public radio community. The Fitzgerald Theater is Saint Paul's oldest theater and will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2010.