Charles Baxter was born in Minneapolis and graduated from Macalester College, in Saint Paul. After completing graduate work in English at the State University of New York at Buffalo, he taught for several years at Wayne State University in Detroit. In 1989, he moved to the Department of English at the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor and its MFA program. He now teaches at the University of Minnesota.

Baxter is the author of 4 novels, 4 collections of short stories, 3 collections of poems, a collection of essays on fiction and is the editor of other works. His recent novel "The Soul Thief" has been nominated for a Minnesota Book Award, and his previous book "The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot" won this award in 2008.

The Visiting Author Series is sponsored by the Friends of the Rochester Public Library, and this particular event is supported by the Minnesota Book Awards through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education – State Library Services and the Minnesota Library Foundation. The Minnesota Book Awards is a project of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, in partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library and the Office of the Saint Paul Mayor. For more information on the Minnesota Book Awards, visit www.thefriends.org.