Bismarck State College Library will host its annual BookTalk at BSC book discussion series exploring a “Braided Lives” theme beginning in January 2023. The discussions are free and open to the public and will take place on Sundays in January, February and March at the BSC Library.

Humanities instructor Dr. Brian Palecek kicks off the series on Sunday, Jan. 8, from 1-3 p.m., with the discussion of Louise Erdrich’s New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Night Watchman.” Based on the story of Erdrich’s grandfather, Thomas Wazhashk, a Chippewa Council member who worked as a night watchman at a factory near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, the story follows Wazhashk to Washington D.C. as he leads the fight against emancipation and Native Dispossession.

On Sunday, Feb. 5, from 1-3 p.m., BSC Associate Professor of English Michael Tomanek, will lead the discussion of Sierra Crane Murdoch’s book “Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country.” The story takes place on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota and follows the story of Lissa Yellow Bird as she attempts to solve the murder of a young white oil worker. “Yellow Bird” was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, NPR and Publishers Weekly. It was also the winner of the Oregon Book Award, is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and was nominated for the Edgar Award.

BSC Associate Professor of English, Dr. Kimberly Crowley, will wrap up the 2023 BookTalk series on Sunday, March 5, from 1-3 p.m., with a discussion of Mona Susan Power’s book, “The Grass Dancer.” Powers is a native Chicagoan and a member of the Sioux tribe. The book is set in North Dakota and weaves together many stories over 100 years, to create one larger story about multiple generations. The book is the winner of the Ernest Hemmingway Foundation Award.

BookTalk at BSC is funded by the BSC Library and the Warren and Rose Marie Henke Memorial Library Endowment. For more information, contact the BSC Library at 701-224-5450 or bsc.library@bismarckstate.edu.