Just in time for the Minnesota sesquicentennial, the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) has developed an interactive, educational tool: Placeography.org. The interactive Web site allows anyone to post photos and stories or information about any place. Placeography.org gives ordinary characters, buildings and events a place in the sun of Minnesota history. MORE »

St. Paul is contemplating plastering ads on the sides of its skyways during the Republican National Convention, the PiPress reports. The purpose: to raise funds for kiosks that would help orient RNC visitors to the city’s skyway system. It does seem better orientation could benefit St. Paul — whose streets, former Gov. Jesse Ventura once told a national TV audience, were laid out by drunken Irishmen. For instance, the Web site downtownstpaul.com offers up a skyway map with a come-on that John McCain might take offense at (“Get Your Bearings!”) and it turns out to be a bad link. MORE »

Minnesota has the highest proportion of Korean Americans in the country, say Martha and Stephen Vickery, co-founders of the Korean Quarterly, yet that community mostly “flies under the radar.” When the couple, along with a small group from their Presbyterian Church, founded the publication over ten years ago, they were recognizing the hunger of the Korean American community to find a bridge between their Korean heritage and their lives in America. A large proportion of that community is Korean born adoptees. MORE »

On April 23, I had the good fortune to meet the well-regarded Minnesota author, Will Weaver. Two months earlier, I had written a review of his novel Defect, for the Daily Planet. I was therefore interested when I saw a notice advertising that he was going to talk at the Princeton area library. MORE »

Veteran bookseller and publisher David Unowsky offers no-nonsense advice on how to place your book on store shelves (and ensure that it doesn’t just sit there). MORE »