Author Spotlight: Karen Babine explores how natural places shape our lives

PostBulletin.com features Karen Babine's 'Water and What We Know'

Babine_Water coverKaren Babine has lived all over the United States, and in her new book, she writes about how the different lands and various cultures shaped her life.

Babine's debut book of essays titled "Water and What We Know: Following the Roots of Northern Life" was released by the University of Minnesota Press on Sunday. She will read from her book at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Barnes & Noble at Apache Mall in Rochester.

Babine is an assistant professor of English at Concordia College in Moorhead. During her college years, she lived in several different climates, from the Red River Valley of Fargo-Moorhead to the plains of Lincoln, Neb., to the barren, relatively soil-free landscape of Spokane, Wash. Babine aims to explore the meaning of being in your place on a particular day.

"The book is about those places that mean something to us and play a role in our identity and how it shapes who we are," said Babine, who grew up in Nevis, Minn. "You live differently in a place that has lakes and trees than you would if you lived in the Red River Valley, which is flat and has soil made of clay."

 

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Published in: PostBulletin
By: Derek Sullivan