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Long-Shining Waters Author Visiting Pierre

FOR RELEASE: July 19, 2013
CONTACT: Jeff Mammenga, Media Coordinator, (605) 773-6000, Jeff.Mammenga@state.sd.us

Long-Shining Waters Author Visiting Pierre

PIERRE, S.D. – Danielle Sosin, author of The Long-Shining Waters, will be in Pierre on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to discuss her book.

The South Dakota Historical Society Foundation (the nonprofit fundraising partner of the South Dakota State Historical Society) and Prairie Pages Bookseller are hosting a visit from the author and two discussions of The Long-Shining Waters. The events are free and open to the public.

“The novel chronicles the lives of people who live along Lake Superior at different time periods. It shows how this greatest of lakes affects people’s lives – for beauty and for pain,” said Dr. Kathy Antonen of Rapid City.

Sosin will be at the Capitol Lake Visitor Center at 7 p.m. CDT to discuss her novel, answer questions from readers and sign books.

“Because the book takes place on the shores of a lake, we thought it would be fun to have Sosin meet with readers on the shores of Pierre’s Capitol Lake,” said Michael Lewis, president of the Historical Society Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising partner of the South Dakota State Historical Society.

Sosin lives in Duluth, Minn., located on the shores of the lake she writes about in her first novel. The Long-Shining Waters was published by Milkweed Editions in 2011. It won the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, and was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award and The Midwest Independent Bookseller’s Choice Award. The Humanities Council is making it possible for Sosin to tour the state to discuss her book, leading up to the Humanities Council’s Festival of Books in September in Deadwood.

As a prequel to Sosin’s appearance, Antonen will lead a discussion of The Long-Shining Waters at Prairie Pages Bookseller, 321 S. Pierre St., at 6:30 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, July 30. Antonen is a scholar through the South Dakota Humanities Council and has been an English professor at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City for 26 years.

“Readers can come together to share insights, questions and comments. ‘Reading in community’ adds to the significance of the reading experience and adds layers of meaning to what the reader gains from the book,” Antonen said.

Antonen suggested that people look at a map of Lake Superior and read about this body of water as they read about the people who knew it well in The Long-Shining Waters.

The Long-Shining Waters is the 2013 One Book South Dakota selection. One Book South Dakota is a program of the Humanities Council that encourages readers throughout the state to read and discuss a single title. The Humanities Council chose The Long-Shining Waters because it fits the council’s theme of “water” and because the novel is historically grounded.

Copies of The Long-Shining Waters are available at the Heritage Stores at the Cultural Heritage Center and the Capitol, and from Prairie Pages Bookselller. The Humanities Council loaned copies of the book to the Historical Society Foundation. These copies are available at the Cultural Heritage Center for people to check out, but must be returned to the CHC.

Antonen’s and Sosin’s talks in Pierre are made possible with grants from the South Dakota Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information, call (605) 773-6006.

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The South Dakota Historical Society Foundation is a private charitable nonprofit that seeks funding to assist the South Dakota State Historical Society in programming and projects to preserve South Dakota’s history and heritage for future generations.

The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Tourism. The Department of Tourism is comprised of Tourism, the South Dakota Arts Council, and the State Historical Society. The Department is led by Secretary James D. Hagen. The State Historical Society, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call (605) 773-3458 or visit history.sd.gov for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call (605) 394-1936 for more information.