The Blue Earth County Library System (BECLS) is partnering with the Greater Mankato Diversity Council and the Blue Earth County Historical Society to present a community read of The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson, winner of the 2022 Minnesota Book Award in Fiction. 

The first book discussion will be on Saturday, September 17 at the Blue Earth County Historical Society at 10:30 am. Additional opportunity for discussion will follow at the Blue Earth County Library on September 24 at 10:30 am. The programming will conclude with a reading by Diane Wilson on Monday, October 10 at 7pm as part of the region’s celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2022. The reading will take place in Ostrander Auditorium, located in the Centennial Student Union on the Minnesota State University, Mankato campus, and is free and open to the public.

The Seed Keeper is a haunting novel spanning several generations, following a Dakota family’s struggle to preserve their way of life and their sacrifices to protect what matters most. Weaving together the voices of four indelible women, The Seed Keeper is a beautifully told story of reawakening and ancestral connections. In addition to winning the Minnesota Book Award, author Diane Wilson is the recipient of fellowships from the Bush Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the East Central Regional Arts Council. Kirkus Reviews praised The Seed Keeper as a “thoughtful, moving meditation on connections to the past and the land that humans abandon at their peril.”

This program is supported by a grant from the State of Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the people of Minnesota for Library Legacy activities.