Sept. 11: Minnesota State Mankato’s 2025-2026 Good Thunder Reading Series Opens

Thursday, September 11, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
First event--Workshop, Memorial Library

Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato’s 2025-2026 Good Thunder Reading Series will host five writers this year, with fall semester events scheduled for Sept. 11 and Oct. 16 and spring semester events scheduled for Feb. 12, March 19 and April 16.

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

This year’s Good Thunder Reading Series begins with a visit by author Joe Baumann on Thursday, Sept. 11.

Sept. 11 schedule:

• 10-11 a.m. – Workshop, Memorial Library, first floor.
• 3-3:50 p.m. – Craft Talk, Centennial Student Union, Rooms 253/4/5. Books available for purchase.
• 7:30-8:15 p.m. – Baumann will read from his work, Centennial Student Union, Rooms 253/4/5. Books available for purchase.

About the featured writer (courtesy of the Good Thunder Reading series): Joe Baumann is the author of six collections of short fiction, most recently “A Thing Is Only Known When It Is Gone,” from University of Wisconsin Press, and the novels “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” and “Lake, Drive.” His fiction and essays have appeared in “Third Coast,” “Passages North,” “Phantom Drift” and many others. He possesses a doctorate in English from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. He was a 2019 Lambda Literary Fellow in Fiction and currently directs the MFA in writing at Lindenwood University. He can be reached at joe.baumann.wordpress.com.

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 15,251 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities.