Literary calendar for week of March 5 - Yahoo News

V.V. GANESHANANTHAN: Reads from her novel "Brotherless Night," set in the early years of Sri Lanka's three-decade civil war. It's about a 16-year-old who wants to be a doctor but her plans are stymied when she sees her four brothers and a friend swept up in combat. 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.

ADIB KNORRAM: Author of "Darius the Great is Not Okay" talks about reading brave, presented by St. Paul Public Library's Read Brave Talk Brave community book program, focused this year on mental health issues. Knorram, whose novel is the main book selection for the Read Brave initiative, will be joined by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and youngsters from People Inc. Free. 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 6, Rice Street Library, 1011 Rice St., St. Paul.

What else is going on

The bestselling Mitch Rapp series is getting a new author. Launched in 1999 by Minnesotan Vince Flynn, the franchise about a counter-terrorism operative was taken over by Kyle Mills after Flynn's death in 2013. Mills, who's written nine Rapp thrillers, announces in the Vince Flynn newsletter that "Code Red," 22nd in the series, will be his last. He is turning Rapp over to Don Bentley, author of the Matt Drake series and a contributor to the Tom Clancy universe. Mills says he's leaving "the best job I ever had" to concentrate on writing about a character who has been "bouncing around in my head for years." Bentley is a huge Vince Flynn fan and although he doesn't remember when he read a Mitch Rapp book for the first time, he remembers how it felt — "like biting into a live wire." Bentley mainlined the series after discovering a little lending library in Afghanistan "chock full of dog-eared Vince Flynn paperbacks."

Award-winning poet Heid Erdrich, whose sister Louise owns Birchbark Books & Native Arts, 2115 W. 21st St., Mpls., announces they have signed a lease for a new events venue. Dubbed Birchbark Lynx, it's in the historic Loring Corners building next to Loring Park, just two miles away from the store. In the past, Birchbark held events off-site, often at nearby Bockley Gallery. Now, the staff will be able to host events in the new space, which will also serve as the store's online warehouse and the office for bulk orders. Stay tuned for the spring events schedule.

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