Nov. 11: Good Thunder Reading Series Features Poets Su Hwang, Robyn Katona

Thursday, November 11, 2021
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Opening event is workshop at Emy Frentz Gallery

Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato will host poets Su Hwang and Robyn Katona on Thursday, Nov. 11 in the second 2021-22 event of the University’s annual Good Thunder Reading Series.

All Good Thunder Reading Series events are free and open to the public.

Nov. 11 activities will begin with Hwang holding a workshop from 10-11 a.m. at the Emy Frentz Gallery (523 S. 2^nd St. in Mankato) and then a “Talk on Craft” from 3-4 p.m. in Minnesota State Mankato’s Centennial Student Union, Room 245.

That evening, Katona will read from their work from 7:30-8:30 p.m. in Centennial Student Union, Room 245.

The Good Thunder Reading Series website included the following short biographies on Hwang and Katona.

Su Hwang is a poet, activist, stargazer, and the author of Bodega, which received the 2020 Minnesota Book Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2021 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Born in Seoul, Korea, Hwang has called New York City and San Francisco home before moving to Minnesota. Her many awards include a Jerome Hill Fellowship in Literature and an Academy of American Poets James Wright Prize. She is currently a teaching artist with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.

Robyn Katona is a third-year MFA graduate student at Minnesota State Mankato and co-managing editor with Maivboon Vang for BER. They write poetry, CNF, and when motivation strikes: writes huge world-building lore. They’re Cree and queer, and one day hope to work at an apiary despite having pollen allergies. It’ll have to wait though, after writing their thesis.

Founded in 1981, the Good Thunder Reading Series brings nationally and internationally acclaimed writers from diverse backgrounds and literary traditions to Mankato, Minnesota, with the goal of promoting access to great literature, inspiring creativity and connection in our communities, and fostering lively conversations about how writers work and why writing matters.

The Good Thunder Reading Series is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

The 2021-22 Good Thunder Reading Series also receives support from Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of English, College of Arts and Humanities, Division of Diversity and Inclusion, the Women’s Center, the Nadine B. Andreas Endowment, the Eddice B. Barber Visiting Writer Endowment, the Robert C. Wright Endowment and individual donors. Barnes & Noble Bookstore at Minnesota State Mankato provides additional assistance.

For more information or to get involved, contact Chris McCormick at 507-389-5500 or visit gt.mnsu.edu.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,546 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.