The Heartland Fall Forum began yesterday in Minneapolis, Minn., with a day full of educational retreats for store owners, managers, and event planners, and the Twin Cities bookstore tour. The evening events included the Heartland Book Awards ceremony and the opening night party at Open Book. The conference continues through Friday, and we'll have more coverage.
The Heartland Booksellers Award winners: (from left) John U. Bacon, winner of the Nonfiction award for The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, (Liveright); retired Penguin Random House sales rep David Underwood, winner of the Voice of the Heartland Award; and Jashar Awan, Picture Book winner for Loops (S&S Books for Young Readers) with event host Autumn Brown, co-host of the How to Survive the End of the World podcast and author of Temper: Practicing Freedom in an Unfree World (forthcoming from Macmillan). [Not pictured: Maggie Smith, winner of the Poetry Award for A Suit or a Suitcase (Washington Square Press) and Trung Le Nguyen, YA/Middle Grade winner for Angelica & the Bear Prince (Random House Graphic).]
Craig Popelars (r.), v-p of marketing & sales for Milkweed Editions--sponsor of the opening night party--welcomes a busload of Heartland Fall Forum attendees to Open Book.
(from l.) Daniel Dziubinski and Ryvre Hardrick, Goblin Market, Chicago, Ill.; Hunter Gillum, Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, Iowa; and Rob McAllister and Melissa McAllister, Dungeon's Gate, Ankeny, Iowa.
(from l.) Gillette Kempf, Chapter2 Books, Hudson, Wis., with Hope Reeves and Brie Taralson from Lykke Books, New Ulm, Minn.