Book Lovers Night features author Margaret Wurtele

Margaret Wurtele, author of "The Golden Hour," is the featured author at Book Lovers Night at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13 in room 204A, Gorecki Dining and Conference Center, College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minn.

Wurtele will read excerpts from "The Golden Hour," a novel focused on a 17-year-old girl's experience when German forces occupied Tuscany, Italy in 1943.

An informal book chat and a free book swap begins at 6:30 p.m.  A local community reader will give book recommendations at 6:45 p.m. and Wurtele will be introduced at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Wurtele was raised in Minneapolis. She graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and spent two years with the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa. Twenty-six years later, Wurtele received her master's in liberal studies from Hamline University in St. Paul. 

Wurtele has previously authored two memoirs, "Touching the Edge: A Mother's Path from Loss to Life" and "Taking Root: a Spiritual Memoir." She has served as a board member for the Literary Loft Center in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Opera and Graywolf Press. Other accomplishments include leading the capital campaign for the new Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where the Wurtele Thrust Stage is named for her, and founding the Hungry Mind Press in St. Paul. Wurtele and her husband are also owners of Terra Valentine winery in Napa Valley, Calif.

The CSB/SJU Bookstore will offer recommended books for sale at 20 percent off during the event.  For more information, contact [email protected] or call 320-363-2119.