Each day leading up to the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony, we’ll be featuring an exclusive interview with one of our 36 finalists. Learn more about these incredible local writers and gear up to see the winners announced live in person April 21.
Interview with Michael Crouser, author of Mountain Ranch
Category: General Nonfiction, sponsored by the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University
It is wonderful, when the work on one’s book is finally finished, to come up for air and realize that you are part of a larger community of Minnesota authors. And to be selected as a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award is indeed a gratifying honor for me.
What does writing mean to you?
I have always loved to write, and have always loved books. I inherited both these loves from my dad. I have always loved to make pictures, in one way or another. I get this love from my mom. Both writing and making photographs are, for me, imperative means of self expression, and I feel fortunate to have found a way, through books, to combine them in carrying on some family traditions.
Why are stories important for our communities?
There are so many reasons to write. So many reasons to make all types of art. Stories can entertain and educate. They can be provocative or experimental. In my book, Mountain Ranch, I wanted to make a record, in an artistic fashion, of a disappearing way of life…that of ranching in the mountains…that of the American cowboy.
Tell us something people might not know about you.
I still make my photographs with film, and print them myself in a traditional darkroom.
What do you love about libraries?
A library is an oasis…an inclusive and encouraging place of answers and untold possibility.
More about Michael Crouser:
Michael Crouser was born in Minneapolis in 1962 and began making photographs in earnest at the age of fourteen, when he built a darkroom in his parents’ basement. In 2012 Leica Gallery of New York hosted the exhibition “Michael Crouser: A Mid-Career Retrospective” and in 2014 Crouser was awarded the George Eastman/Power of the Image medal in Beijing, China. Mountain Ranch is his fourth book, and this is his second time as a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award.
See the winners announced live at the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony!
