Sept. 14: Good Thunder Reading Series Hosts Author Victoria Chang

Thursday, September 14, 2023
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Event begins with workshop

Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato’s 2023-2024 Good Thunder Reading Series will host nine writers this year, with fall semester events scheduled for Sept. 14, Oct. 26 and Nov. 9, and spring semester events scheduled for Jan. 18, Feb. 29, March 14 and April 4.

All of the events are free and open to the public.

This year’s Good Thunder Reading Series begins with a visit by author Victoria Chang on Thursday, Sept. 14.

Sept. 14 schedule:

• 10-11 a.m. – Workshop, Memorial Library, First Floor, SW Corner.
• 3-3:50 p.m. – “Talk on Craft,” Centennial Student Union, Room 245. Books available for purchase.
• 7:30-8:15 p.m. – Chang will read from her work, Centennial Student Union, Room 245. Books available for purchase.

About the featured writer (courtesy of the Good Thunder Reading Series): Victoria Chang’s forthcoming book of poems, “With My Back to the World,” will be published in 2024 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Corsair Books in the U.K. Her most recent book of poetry, “The Trees Witness Everything,” was published by Copper Canyon Press and Corsair Books in the U.K. and was named one of the “Best Books of 2022” by the New Yorker and The Guardian.

Her nonfiction book, “Dear Memory” (Milkweed Editions), was named a favorite nonfiction book of 2021 by Electric Literature and Kirkus. “OBIT” (Copper Canyon Press, 2020) was named a New York Times Notable Book, a Time Must-Read Book and received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Poetry and the PEN/Voelcker Award. It was also longlisted for a National Book Award and named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Griffin International Poetry Prize. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Chowdhury Prize in Literature. She serves as the Bourne Chair in Poetry at Georgia Tech.

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 connections 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 2023-24 Good Thunder Reading Series also receives support from Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Creative Arts; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; the Nadine B. Andreas Endowment, the Eddice B. Barber Visiting Writer Endowment, the Robert C. Wright Endowment and individual donors.

For more information or to get involved, contact Robin Becker, a creative writing faculty member at Minnesota State Mankato, at robin.becker@mnsu.edu, or visit gt.mnsu.edu.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,482 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities.