Author Valerie Miner from Minnesota will give a reading at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Bismarck State College's Student Union Prairie Room. It's free and open to the public.

Miner, the winner of Fulbright Fellowships to India and Tunisia, has written 12 books - collections of short fiction, essays and a memoir selected as a finalist for the PEN USA Creative Non-Fiction Award.

Miner's essays have appeared in "The Village Voice," "Ploughshares," "The Georgia Review" and other publications. "Blood Sisters," "A Walking Fire" and "Range of Light" are three of her novels.

Miner is an English and creative writing professor at the University of Minnesota. She has received the University College Distinguished Teaching Award and travels internationally to give lectures and workshops.