FITZGERALD IN ST. PAUL: Fourth in the discussion series featuring Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories, hosted by poet/baker Danny Klecko, concentrates on “The Ice Palace.” One of the St. Paul-born author’s most famous stories, published in 1920, it’s about a Southern belle who visits her fiance’s emotionally cold family during the Winter Carnival and fears she will die when she is lost in the icy depths of the ice palace. The experience convinces her she is not suited to Northern climes and she returns to her sunny home. With guests Tim Nolan, poet and curator of the Readings by Writers series, and Mark Taylor, organizer of Fitzgerald/Summit Avenue walking tours. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, SubText Bookstore, 6 W. Fifth St., St. Paul.
JEREMY NORTON: Shares 22 years of professional experience as an EMT and firefighter in his memoir “Trauma Sponges: Dispatches From the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response” (University of Minnesota Press) in which he offers honest insight and social conscience to his insider’s perspective on the role of sexism and machismo in his profession, as well as an observer’s view of individuals trapped in dire circumstances and a society ill-equipped to confront trauma and death. Norton moves from his days as a rookie firefighter and emergency medical technician to his current position as head of Station 17 in Minneapolis, where he and his crew responded to the scene of George Floyd’s murder. They faced the fires and anguish of the months following Floyd’s death and helped the injured. Norton’s co-panelists will be Jeanelle Austin of the George Floyd Global Memorial organization, and lawyer and police reform activist Abigail Cerra. They will explore topics ranging from racial inequality to mental health and toxic masculinity in a conversation titled Witness and Testify: Towards a More Just Community in the Minnesota Writers Series. 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, Minnesota Humanities Center, 987 E. Ivy Ave., St. Paul. Free; registration required. Go to [email protected].
JOE PROSIT: Brainerd-based author launches his cyberpunk science fiction series From Order, consisting of novels “99 Town,” “7 Androids,” and “Zero City,” joining his previous story collection “Machines, Monsters and Maniacs,” and his breakout novel “Bad Brains.” The stories in From Order are set in 2112 when a federal agent investigates a murder and ends up in the clutches of The Underground, a rebel collective fighting the all-seeing, all-knowing technocratic government known as The Order. 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, Lookout Bar and Grill, 8672 Pineview Lane N., Maple Grove.
RAQUEL WILLIS: Co-founder of the Transgender Week of Visibility and Action discusses her new book “The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation.” Willis spent years as a newspaper reporter hiding her transgender identity until increasing violence against trans women of color inspired her to come out. Presented by Westminster Town Hall Forum. Free. 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1200 Marquette Ave., Mpls.