English Department

Good Thunder Reading Reading Series Welcomes MNSU Alumni

The Good Thunder Reading Series welcomes nonfiction writer Bronson Lemer, poet Matt Mauch, and fiction writer Christine Stark.

Christine Stark is an award-winning writer and visual artist whose work has been published in numerous periodicals and anthologies, including: The Florida Review, Feminist Studies, Poetry Motel, Hawk and Handsaw, Birthed From Scorched, Hearts To Plead Our Own Cause, and Primavera. She is a co-editor of Not for Sale, an international anthology on sexual violence. She is a 2009 Pushcart Prize nominee in fiction and a 2010 Loft Mentorship winner. Stark teaches writing at Metropolitan State University.

Matt Mauch is the author of Prayer Book (Lowbrow Press 2011) and the chapbook The Book of Modern Prayer (Palimpsest Press). His poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Salt Hill, NOÖ Journal, DIAGRAM, The Journal, Willow Springs, The Squaw Valley Review, The Los Angeles Review, Sonora Review, and elsewhere. Mauch teaches writing and literature in the AFA program at Normandale Community College, and also coordinates the reading series there.

Bronson Lemer grew up in North Dakota and served for six years with the North Dakota Army National Guard that included deployments to Kosovo and Iraq.  His essay “The Mustache Race” was published in the Random House anthology Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers, and his essay “Olympic Hopefuls” received honorable mention in the Association of Writers and Writing Program’s 2007 Intro Project.

At 10:00 a.m. they will meet with the local writing community for Q & A in CSU 238. At 3:00 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union Ostrander Auditorium, they will lead a discussion on the craft of writing. At 7:30 p.m. in CSU Room 253, they willread from their work. All events are free and open to the public.

KMSU Weekly Reader

Join hosts Benjamin Allocco, Amy Fladeboe, and Josh Kohman every Thursday at 10:30am for the Weekly Reader on KMSU 89.7 "The Mav".

The Weekly Reader showcases readings and discussions on craft with authors from the local, state, and occasionally national levels. Writing genres typically discussed include (but are not limited to)- fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, journalism, screenwriting, songwriting, comedy writing, and more. Tune in and discover the writing talent and creative ideas flowing from people all around us.

Podcasts from prior shows are available on the KMSU Weekly Reader website and on iTunes .

You can also stay current with the latest information on the Weekly Reader Facebook page. 

Recommended Winter Reading

Tucking in with a quality book (in addition to getting some much needed rest) over the winter break can be a great way stay warm and pass the time. Below are recommendations for books from our faculty and staff, but you don't have to take our word for it.

Kirsti Cole
The Hunger Games (Trilogy) by Suzanne Collins
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg
Howl's Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
A Season in Hell and the Drunken Boat by Arthur Rimbaud
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Maus I&II by Art Spiegelman

Anne O'Meara
Songdogs by Colum McCann

Melissa Purdue
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 
Snake by Kate Jennings
The Implacable Order of Things by Jose Luis Peixoto. 
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Matt Sewell 
The Best American Comics 2011 by Alison Bechdel, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden
Decoded by Jay-Z
The Journals of Spalding Gray by Spalding Gray
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
The Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell

Richard Terrill
501 Minutes to Christ by Poe Ballantine

Lee Tesdell
Cutting for Stone by A. Varghese
Driftless by D. Rhodes

Jennifer Veltsos
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacs

Katherine Voight
Harry Potter (Books 1-7) by J.K Rowling

Gwen Westerman 
Extra Indians by Eric Gansworth
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

STC welcomes Michael Seidel

Michael Seidel, an information architect at Johnson Controls, joins us on Monday, November 28 at 8:45 pm (CST).

He completed his BA in technical and professional writing at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Michael is also the founder of MkeUX, a group for user experience professionals in the Milwaukee area. You can follow Mr. Seidel and MkeUX on Twitter @michaelseidel and @mkeux.

The meeting will be held online. Please sign in as a guest, using your first and last names.

Faculty featured in Good Thunder Reading Series on November 17th

The Good Thunder Reading Series welcomes faculty members poet/nonfiction writer Candace Black, poet Richard Robbins, and fiction writer Roger Sheffer on Thursday, November 17.

Candace Black teaches in the creative writing program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her book of poems, The Volunteer, won the 2000 Minnesota Voices Prize and was published by New Rivers Press in 2003.

Richard Robbins has published five books of poems, most recently Radioactive City and Other Americas. He has received awards from The Loft, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Society of America. He directs the creative writing program and Good Thunder Reading Series at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Roger Sheffer has won several national short-story contests during the past five years, including those from Third Coast, Fugue, Yemassee, and Cream City Review. His most recent story collection is Music of the Inner Lakes.

They will lead a discussion on the craft of writing 3:00 p.m. in Centennial Student Union Ostrander Auditorium. At 7:30 p.m., in CSU Room 253, they will read from their published work. All events are free and open to the public.  

Good Thunder Reading Series welcomes Debra Monroe

Debra Monroe joins the Good Thunder Reading Series on Thursday, November 10.

She has written four books of fiction and one memoir, On the Outskirts of Normal, listed as "Required Reading" in Vanity Fair, as one of "Our Picks" on Salon.com, as "Recommended" in O: the Oprah magazine, and named as one of "Best Ten of 2010" by the Barnes & Noble Review.

She will lead a discussion on the craft of writing at 3 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union's Ostrander Auditorium. A reading will take place at 7:30 p.m. in CSU Room 284. All events are free and open to the public.

The Society for Technical Communication welcomes Matt Barton

The student chapter of STC at Minnesota State University, Mankato welcomes Matt Barton on Tuesday, November 1, at 8:45 pm (CT).

Matt is an Associate Professor of English at St. Cloud State where he has recently published a volume of articles called Wiki Writing with Robert Cummings.

His presentation on Tuesday titled "Drinking the Electric Kool-Aid: Transmedia, Immersion, and LSD" discusses what narratives are enabled by technologies such as Facebook, Microsoft Kinect, and Apple's iPhone, and why composition should care. Is the ultimate storytelling device one of total immersion into a simulated environment—the holodeck from Star Trek, or a digital drug to open the doorways of perception? Are the "augmented reality" technologies fast becoming a common feature of mobile devices?

Good Thunder welcomes Rhea Davison-Edwards and John Reimringer

Rhea Davison-Edwards and John Reimringer will be in residence for the Good Thunder Reading Series on Thursday, October 27.

Davison-Edwards,fiction and creative nonfiction writer, is an MFA candidate at Minnesota State-Mankato and the recipient of the Robert Wright Award.

Reimringer's first novel, Vestments, was named one of the best books of 2010 by Publishers Weekly.

They will lead a discussion on the craft of writing at 3 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union's Ostrander Auditorium. A reading will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Ostrander Auditorium. All events are free and open to the public.