Stride's Duluth - Brian Freeman
Minnesota author Brian Freeman will share his literary journey in writing about fictional detective, Jonathan Stride. In his program, Stride's Duluth, Freeman takes participants on a visual tour of the settings found within his novels and discusses how he uses the very real North Shore to make his stories come alive. He will also introduce his newest book, 'Alter Ego.'
24 participated
As Duluth is six hours away in the opposite corner of the state, many of the library's patrons have never physically experienced the North Shore. In listening to Freeman's presentation, individuals will learn about this beautiful and wild corner of Minnesota. Additionally the audience will learn about the joys and challenges of using a real setting to tell a story. Through Freeman's program we hope to inspire individuals to experience their state either physically or through books, videos and photos. We also hope to provide our members with a greater appreciation for the arts and the work that goes into writing a novel. Further, Freeman's program fits into our library's 2018 Community Reading Challenge, 'Reading Takes You Everywhere.' As each geographical place has its own cultural nuances, this theme encourages our patrons to look toward setting to better experience the world around them. Living on the plains is vastly different from living on the North Shore. We hope Freeman's program will expand our participants' understanding of how diverse our state is. Participant evaluations and anecdotal responses will be collected.
Hands down this was one of our most refreshing author visits. Many of our patrons who attended raved about how fun and different it was to hear about how setting is used by writers. Here's what our patrons had to say: 'I discovered authors may choose the setting for the book - he was one of my favorites.', 'I loved the connection I felt with other people in the audience through our shared reactions to Brian. Most here I did not know and yet we had a bond discovered.', 'I learned about finding new perspectives on places I see on a daily basis.', 'I loved the connection we saw between setting and story. The slide show was wonderful when paired with the reading. It engaged all the senses and really made me feel the story came to life.' 75% of those in attendance filled out evaluation forms, many of whom continued talking about it days after the program as well as sharing it on their own social media pages. 21 of 24 rated the program as 'great' with the remaining 3 rating it 'very good.' Brian Freeman is clearly a dynamic speaker who connects well with his audience.
Friends of the Library (refreshments) $30.00, KLOH Radio (advertising) $50.00, Arrow Star (advertising) $50.00