April 9: Minnesota State Mankato’s 2025-2026 Good Thunder Reading Series Concludes with Visit from Writer Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Thursday, April 9, 2026
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
First event

Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato’s 2025-2026 Good Thunder Reading Series will host writer Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Thursday, April 9 in the series’ fifth and final event of the 2025-26 academic year.

Minnesota State Mankato alum Emma Josephine will perform music during the evening session.

All of the events are free and open to the public. Campus visitor parking information is available at: https://www.mnsu.edu/visit/campus-visitor-parking/

Thursday, April 9 schedule:

• 10-11 a.m. – Workshop, Memorial Library, first floor.
• 3-3:50 p.m. – Craft Talk, Centennial Student Union, Room 245.
• 7-8:15 p.m. – Music from alum Emma Josephine at 7 p.m., followed by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah reading from his work at 7:30 p.m., Carnegie Art Center, 120 S. Broad St., Mankato.

The following information about Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Emma Josephine was provided by the Good Thunder Reading Series: Adjei-Brenyah was raised in Spring Valley, New York, and now lives in the Bronx. His debut collection, “Friday Black,” was a New York Times bestseller, won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. His first novel, “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, winner of the Inside Literary Prize, shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Books Are My Bag Awards and selected as a New York Times Top Ten Books of the Year. Adjei-Brenyah is a National Book Foundation’s ‘5 Under 35’ honoree.

Josephine is captivated by the ordinary: advice from an unknown woman at the bar, blooming flowers in an Irish valley, or a flat tire on the toll road. Her lyrics are brought to life with the melodies of an old soul and the nostalgia of growing up in Minnesota. Josephine debuted as a festival musician at the 32^nd Annual Rock Bend Folk Festival, where she was described by the co-coordinator, Ron Arsenault, as “an engaging, talented, intelligent emerging songwriter.” She has worked with artists including Dave Simonett; The Cactus Blossoms; and Sarah Morris.

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 2025-26 Good Thunder Reading Series also receives support from Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Creative Arts; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; the Nadine B. Andreas Endowment; the Eddice B. Barber Visiting Writer Endowment; the Robert C. Wright Endowment; the Minnesota State Arts Board; Friends of the Library; 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 15,721 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities.