Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Good Thunder

Wisconsin writer David McGlynn (above) and Minnesota State MFA student Amanda Schumacher (below) will talk craft and read in CSU 284 as part of Good Thunder series today.

The Good Thunder Reading Series will host writer David McGlynn for a talk Thursday on craft and to perform a reading with Robert Wright Award winning Amanda Schumacher.

The craft talk will be held at 3 p.m. in the Ostrander Auditorium and the reading at 7:30 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union room 253.

McGlynn is the author of the book "The End of the Straight and Narrow" and has published fiction and nonfiction in Alaska Quarterly Review, Black Warrior Review, The Missouri Review, Shenandoah and Ninth Letter. He is currently working on a collection of personal essays entitled "Rough Water" and teaches at Lawrence University.

As an up-and-coming writer, McGlynn's debut "The End of Straight and Narrow" has created quite the stir as he plays with the relationship between religion and ordinary life.

"This is a collection about religion but more," says the Baton Rouge Advocate, "It's about how what we believe affects our lives in the real world."

According to the San Antonio Press-News, "The End of Straight and Narrow announces the arrival of a visionary voice in contemporary fiction. It will be a pleasure to track the arc of David McGlynn's journey."

Which is why Director of the Good Thunder Reading Series Richard Robbins brought him here.

"David McGlynn is an emerging fiction writer whose first book had received broad acclaim, and featuring emerging writers is part of what we try to do when we program for the series."

An interview with McGlynn will also be featured as a part of "Authors in Transit" on KMSU 89.7, Thursday Oct. 29 at 1:00 p.m. and Friday Oct. 30 at 11:00 a.m.

Schumacher is currently a student at Minnesota State University, Mankato pursuing her MFA in creative writing. She has her Master's Degree in English from Iowa State University and recently won first place in the 2009 Robert Wright Award for her writing. She will be performing a reading with McGlynn at 7:30 p.m. in CSU 253.

Although a relatively new writer, Schumacher's writing is quoted by author Leigh Allison Wilson as saying her work "investigates the mysterious interstices between life and death, mystery and manners … with a fine intelligence and originality [that] makes her prose a memorable experience for her readers."

Both events are free and open to the public and will have a short Q and A following their performance.


Sam Campbell is a Reporter staff writer

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