Read Minnesota Books: author interviews, reading recommendations, and publishing news from the North Star State.
www.readminnesotabooks.com (https://www.readminnesotabooks.com?utm_medium=podcast)
Award-winning writer Sun Yung Shin 신 선 영 speaks with us about her memoir-in-essays Heart Eater: A Memoir of Immigration, Belonging, and How We Find Ourselves in Language, the inaugural selection of the Immigrant Writers on Immigrant Writing Series from Black Lawrence Press. We discuss transracial and transnational adoption, how activism can shift narratives, her experience as one of three young poets to publish collections about the Korean-American adoptee experience in 2006, and how writers can care for themselves while writing about intensely personal topics.
Heart Eater: A Memoir of Immigration, Belonging, and How We Find Ourselves in Language (https://blacklawrencepress.com/books/heart-eater-a-memoir-of-immigration-belonging-and-how-we-find-ourselves-in-language/)
A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota (https://shop.mnhs.org/products/good-time-truth)
Sun Yung Shin’s 신 선 영 website (https://www.sunyungshin.com/), on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sunyungshin), @sunyungshin on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sunyungshin/), @sunyungshin on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sunyungshin.bsky.social) Sun Yung Shin 신 선 영 辛善英 (https://substack.com/profile/5627825-sun-yung-shin)
Recommendations
Read Nik Chang Hoon’s essays:
“Emotionally Self-Aware Adoptive Parent: Contract for Services (https://kenyonreview.org/piece/emotionally-self-aware-adoptive-parent-contract-for-services/)”
“Abandoned supposings: A Letter to My Non-father’s Silence (https://bhreview.org/articles/abandoned-supposings-a-letter-to-my-non-fathers-silence/)”
Thanks for listening to Read Minnesota Books!
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readminnesotabooks.com (https://www.readminnesotabooks.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
14 Oct 2026
Stephanie Hansen and Kurt Johnson and The Moon Tavern
Husband and wife co-authors Stephanie Hansen and Kurt Johnson talk with us about how a broken-down Yugo is a perfect narrative device, adapting Croatian recipes to be more Minnesotan, and why they capped the number of sex scenes in their novel The Moon Tavern: A Culinary Love Story (With Recipes).
The Moon Tavern: A Culinary Love Story (With Recipes) (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTS1T6H4?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback)
Taste Buds television show (https://www.fox9.com/tag/series/taste-buds)
Taste Buds with Stephanie (https://www.youtube.com/@TasteBudswithStephanie) on YouTube
Stephanie’s Dish (https://www.stephaniesdish.com/) on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=stephanie%20hansen), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/stephaniesdish/?hl=en), and Substack (https://substack.com/@stephaniesdish)
Kurt Johnson on Substack
Recommendations
Best Minnesota-grown apple varieties: Zestar, First Kiss, SweeTango, and Snow Sweet.
University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum AppleHouse (https://arb.umn.edu/AppleHouse)
Thanks for listening to Read Minnesota Books!
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readminnesotabooks.com (https://www.readminnesotabooks.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
6 Oct 2026
David Mura and Exit, Miss Saigon
David Mura joins us to speak about Asian-American identity, Broadway boycotts, thirty years of essays, and how typing is like jazz piano.
Exit, Miss Saigon (https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517921217/exit-miss-saigon/)
@muradavid on Twitter (https://x.com/MuraDavid)
David Mura on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/david.mura.71/)
davidmura.com (https://davidmura.com/)
David Mura on Substack (https://davidmura.substack.com/)
Recommendations
“To Invigorate Literary Mind, Start Moving Literary Feet” by Joyce Carol Oates (https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/19/arts/to-invigorate-literary-mind-start-moving-literary-feet.html)
October 7, 2026, David Mura Book Launch (https://www.theatermu.org/community-events/exit-miss-saigon#gsc.tab=0)
October 20, 2026, Magers and Quinn, David Mura with Alexs Pate (https://www.magersandquinn.com/event/David-Mura-presents-Exit,-Miss-Saigon/670)
November 11, 2026, Subtext Books event at The University Club of Saint Paul (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/asian-american-memoir-tickets-1998918308470)
Thanks for listening to Read Minnesota Books (https://www.readminnesotabooks.com/)!
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readminnesotabooks.com (https://www.readminnesotabooks.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
19 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
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