Sept. 16: Good Thunder Reading Series Begins with Visit from Jaquira Díaz

Thursday, September 16, 2021
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
First event

Photo of Jaquira Díaz at right courtesy of Maria Esquinca.

KTOE Radio coverage

Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato’s 2021-2022 Good Thunder Reading Series will host four visiting writers this year, with fall events scheduled for Sept. 16 and Nov. 11 and spring events scheduled for Feb. 3 and April 7.

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

This year’s Good Thunder Reading Series begins with a visit by writer Jaquira Díaz on Thursday, Sept. 16. Books will be available for purchase during Díaz’s visit.

Sept. 16 schedule:

• 10-11 a.m. – Workshop at Emy Frentz Art Guild, 423 S. 2^nd, Mankato
• 3-4 p.m. – “Talk on Craft,” Centennial Student Union, Room 245
• 7:30-8:30 p.m. – Diaz will read from her work, Centennial Student Union, room 245

Jaquira Díaz was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Miami. She is the author of “Ordinary Girls: A Memoir,” winner of a Whiting Award, a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal and a Lambda Literary Awards finalist. “Ordinary Girls” was an Indies Introduce Selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Notable Selection, an Indie Next Pick and a Library Reads pick. Díaz’s work has been published in The Guardian, Time Magazine, T: The New York Times Style Magazine and The Best American Essays 2016, among other publications. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, an Elizabeth George Foundation grant and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Kenyon Review and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing.

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 14,604 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.