KAREN BABINE >> Presents “The Allure of Elsewhere: A Memoir of Going Solo,” in conversation with Chris Hewitt. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

TIM BRADY >> Launches “A Light in the Northern Sea: Denmark’s Incredible Rescue of Their Jewish Citizens During WWII.” 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

MINNESOTA MYSTERY NIGHT >> Turns to South Africa with author Stanley Trollip in conversation with New York historical mystery writer Annamaria Alfieri. Trollip, a retired professor who divides his time between Cape Town, Minneapolis and Copenhagen, is the writing partner of Michael Sears, another South African writer. Their best-known series features Detective Kubu, written under the pen name Michael Stanley. The most recent in their series, number eight, is “A Deadly Covenant.” Trollip’s latest solo book, “Wolfman,” features investigative reporter Crystal Nguyen, a prequel to “Dead of Night,” a thriller also written with Sears. Their books are set in Botswana. Alfieri writes the Vera and Tolliver historical mysteries set in British East Africa. 7 p.m. Monday, Lucky’s 13 Pub, 1352 Sibley Memorial Highway, Mendota. $13 reservation charge. Go to mnmysteryight.com.

MOLLY OLGUIN >> Seattle-based queer writer, educator and monster aficionado discusses “The Sea Gives Up the Dead,” including stories about a lovesick nanny who slays a dragon, a devil who tries to save her mother, and a mermaid who falls under the power of a witch. 6 p.m. Thursday, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.

MORGAN RYAN >> Presents “A Resistance of Witches” in conversation with Emma Torzs. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

THREE AUTHORS >> Minnesota fiction writers sign their latest books: John Gaspard (“Twisting the Aces”), Judy Kerr (“Postmarked Castle Cove”), Mary Seifert (“Airplanes, Atlanta & an Assassin”). Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls.

AMY TINTERA >> California-based author discusses her novel “Listen For the Lie” presented by Books & Bars and Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, moderated by Jeff Kamin. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Urban Growler, 2325 Endicott St., St. Paul.

What else is going on

There’s going to be a lot of happiness today at Flava Cafe in St. Paul when early-career writers in the Go Back & Fetch It program, sponsored by More Than a Single Story, celebrate the end of the first year of the mentoring program with a reading. Congratulations to the young writers and especially to Carolyn Holbrook, amazing founder of More Than a Single Story.

Holbrook, who could be considered the godmother of Black Twin Cities writers, is an award-winning author and teacher at Hamline University. She was a single mother when she founded the Whittier Writers Workshop in a Minneapolis park, then began SASE: The Write Place, an influential organization that reached hundreds of writing students and sponsored readings around the Twin Cities.

In 2015, Holbrook used some of her Minnesota State Arts Board grant to produce More Than a Single Story, a three-program series at the Loft Literary Center featuring Twin Cities women writers of the African diaspora, aimed at showing there are cultures represented by women who should not be simply defined as “Black” writers. Holbrook wasn’t sure how the series would be received, but she needn’t have worried. There was standing room only at the first program attended by a diverse audience.

Now we are in 2025, and More Than a Single Story is an umbrella organization made up of more programs, as shown in the July newsletter. Among them are The Sweeter the Juice Salon series for mid-career and established Black writers and Our Stories, Ourselves, panels and writing workshops that include Embracing Our Roots and Writer to Writer; in which writers pair up to discuss their work and their lives. The newest program, which begins in August, is Turning the Pages, workshops and mentorships in book publishing.

Holbrook was 75 in 2020 when her memoir “Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify” was published by the University of Minnesota Press and won a Minnesota Book Award. She is also winner of the Minnesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award for outstanding contributions to the Minnesota literary community. Among her other accomplishments: First person of color to hold a leadership position at the Loft Literary Center; originator of first-in-the-nation grants for spoken-word artists, earning her the nickname “Slam Granny”; AARP/Pollen Midwest 50 over 50 honoree; and Hamline University Exemplary Teacher Award. She is co-editor with David Mura of the anthology “We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World” (University of Minnesota Press).

-- Mary Ann Grossmann