Talking Volumes' fall lineup includes Sherman Alexie and Amy Tan

The 18th season of the Talking Volumes book club brings in a range of writers, including three National Book Award winners, a beloved novelist and a writer who gauges his book sales not in the millions, but in the hundreds of millions.

Talking Volumes is a joint production of the Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio, bringing writers in conversation to the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.

The season opens Sept. 14 with Sherman Alexie, author of "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," which won a National Book Award in 2007. Alexie, who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington, is also a poet, novelist and short-story writer. His new book, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," is a memoir of his mother, Lillian, and their difficult but enduring relationship.

On Sept. 27, Jacqueline Woodson will be here. She is the author of "Brown Girl Dreaming," winner of a 2014 National Book Award and the 2015 Newbery Medal, and "Another Brooklyn," a novel about friendship in New York City in the 1970s.

On Oct. 19 Amy Tan will speak about her new memoir, "Where the Past Begins," which reveals her traumatic childhood, her letters to and from her mother and her doubts and inspirations. Tan is the bestselling author of "The Joy Luck Club," "The Kitchen God's Wife" and other books.

Ron Chernow, the biographer behind the Broadway hit "Hamilton," will be in St. Paul on Oct. 31 to discuss "Grant," his new book about Ulysses S. Grant. Chernow is also the author of "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller" and other biographies. He has won the Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award and was awarded a National Humanities Medal.

The season wraps up on Nov. 16 with Dan Brown, author of international best-seller "The DaVinci Code" and many other novels. He'll discuss his new book, "Origin."

Hosted by MPR's Kerri Miller, Talking Volumes has brought more than 80 celebrated writers to town over the years — including Robert Bly, Nikki Giovanni, Stephen King, Elizabeth Alexander, Ann Patchett and Barbara Kingsolver.

Laurie Hertzel is the Star Tribune's senior editor for books.