Top writers Ann Patchett and Abraham Verghese among guests for Talking Volumes

Three bestselling novelists and a beloved essayist will engage with Twin Cities readers in this fall's Talking Volumes series.

The 24th season of Talking Volumes is presented by the Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio. The series brings four top writers to the Twin Cities for live interviews, hosted by MPR's Kerri Miller. The events are held at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater. Each appearance is preceded by an in-depth profile in the Star Tribune.

Abraham Verghese, whose "The Covenant of Water," is a current bestseller, is first up at 7 p.m. Sept. 14. Honored with a National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2015, the physician and writer has created both fiction and nonfiction blockbusters, including "My Own Country," about caring for AIDS patients in rural America, and the novel "Cutting for Stone." "Covenant of Water" is an epic tale, set in Kerala, India, about a family curse.

Ann Patchett's new novel, "Tom Lake," is set during the COVID-19 pandemic and will be published in August. Inspired, in part, by Anton Chekhov, it features a woman regaling her three daughters with tales of her relationship with a famous actor. Patchett, whose other books include Pulitzer Prize finalist "The Dutch House" and "Bel Canto," appears at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, who won the Pulitzer for his novel "The Sympathizer," shifts to nonfiction for his memoir "A Man of Two Faces," about being both father and son, Vietnamese and American. It will be in stores Oct. 3. Nguyen, whose family fled Vietnam when he was 4, appears at the Fitzgerald at 7 p.m. Oct. 24.

The season concludes with New York Times opinion writer Margaret Renkl, whose upcoming collection, due in October, is "The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year." It features 52 essays, one for each week of a year in which she paid close attention to the flora and fauna around her at her Nashville home. Renkl, whose previous books include "Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss," will join Talking Volumes at 7 p.m. Nov. 1.

Talking Volumes tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. Tickets are $30, $28 for MPR or Star Tribune subscribers. Season packages also are available at mprevents.org.