my dream about the cows

and then i see the cattle of my own town,
rustled already,
prodded by pale cowboys with a foreign smell
into dark pens built to hold them forever,
and then i see a few of them
rib thin and weeping low over
sparse fields and milkless lives but
standing somehow standing,
and then i see how all despair is
thin and weak and personal and
then i see it’s only
the dream about the cows.

—Lucille Clifton

August 2009

Dear Colleagues and Friends of the Good Thunder Series:

Change is good, they say. May you live in interesting times, the old curse is supposed to go. Either way, uncertainties challenge us to carry forward into the future what works, and to let remain behind what doesn’t. Perhaps because literary presenters are always challenged, both financially and artistically, these lessons about change stay fresh in our minds.

The 2009-2010 Good Thunder Reading Series program preserves those things our community has found valuable about what we do: During the eight residencies, each visiting writer is involved in one-on-one encounters with area readers. Each writer discusses his or her craft in a broadcast radio interview, as well as before a live audience. Each shares some of his or her published work during an evening performance. Local audiences continue to be able to take advantage of the thoughts and talents of visiting writers in a variety of ways, and our web archives make many of their events available to those far from Mankato.

Some highlights: We kick off the year with a visit by Ohio prose writer Dinty W. Moore. We host our first poetry/jazz performance when St. Peter poet Philip Bryant performs a suite of poems set to music by Boston composer and vocalist Carolyn Wilkins. We feature mid-career writer George Rabasa, as well as emerging writers David McGlynn, Aryn Kyle, and others. Along with award-winning student writers, we also feature MSU alumni who have gone on to publish books of their own. Our Andreas Visiting Writer for the year is the eminent poet and National Book Award winner Lucille Clifton, one of the most beloved and respected figures in American poetry today. Our aim throughout the year is to present a vibrant mix of emerging and established voices, voices from Minnesota and from beyond it, voices that as a group reflect multiple, sometimes contrary, literary perspectives.

As always, we need your help to accomplish this. Local and state grants help, as do an array of MSU sources. Nearly half of the remaining programming, though, relies on your small and large donations to make up the difference. Once you look at the enclosed line-up of invited writers, I hope you’ll agree this year’s Good Thunder Reading Series merits your support.

Sincerely,

Richard Robbins, Director
Good Thunder Reading Series

This year's Good Thunder Reading Series is funded by the Minnesota State University Department of English, the College of Arts and Humanities, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the Nadine B. Andreas Endowment, the Eddice B. Barber Visiting Writer Endowment, the Robert C. Wright Endowment, and individual donors. This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council from funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature. This activity is also made possible in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. MSU Library Services and Barnes & Noble Bookstore at Minnesota State offer additional support.