Twin Rivers’ Writers series

Twin Rivers is excited to launch our new Writers Series! Join us as we sit down with writers to discuss their work, experiences, process, future, and more.

Each event will consist of a moderated conversation with the author and a Q&A with the audience. Mark your calendar with the dates below so you don't miss out on this exciting new series!

The Writers Series is underwritten by Bryan & Tami Paulsen and the Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation.

2025 WRITERS SERIES DATES:

Tuesday, 4.29.25, 6:00-7:30
Featured Author - Shannon Gibney
www.shannongibney.com
Shared Spaces at Emy Frentz - Ward Collective
523 South Second Street, Mankato, MN 56001

Tuesday, 6.10.25, 6:00-7:30
Featured Author - John Thavis
www.johnthavis.com
Shared Spaces at Emy Frentz - Ward Collective
523 South Second Street, Mankato, MN 56001

Wednesday, 8.13.25, 6:00-7:30
Featured Author - John Otis
www.johnthavis.com
Shared Spaces at Emy Frentz - Ward Collective
523 South Second Street, Mankato, MN 56001

Tuesday, 10.7.25, 6:00-7:30
Featured Author - New York Times Bestselling Author
Watch for announcement on 8.1.25
Shared Spaces at Emy Frentz - Ward Collective
523 South Second Street, Mankato, MN 56001

Shannon Gibney

Tuesday, 4.29.25, 6:00-7:30

Shannon Gibney is a writer, educator, and activist. She is author of several books, including The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption, which received a Michael L. Printz Honor and a Minnesota Book Award; See No Color and Dream Country, both winners of Minnesota Book Awards; Where We Come From (co-authored), winner of the 2023 Carter G. Woodson Award; and Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight, a children’s picture book about a cross-cultural family. A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing Fellow, Gibney teaches at Minneapolis College, where she was named Educator of the Year in 2023. She lives with her two children in Minneapolis.

John Thavis

Tuesday, 6.10.25, 6:00-7:30

John Thavis is a journalist, author and speaker in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Thavis grew up in Mankato and graduated from St. John’s University in 1973. His studies in archeology led him to Italy, where he found a career in journalism during the “Red Brigades” terrorism of the late 1970s. He became news editor of the Rome Daily American and later, as a reporter for the Associated Press, ABC News and Catholic News Service, he covered the Vatican beat for 30 years, traveling with Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to more than 60 countries. He served three years as president of the Association of International Journalists Accredited to the Vatican -- the only American ever elected to that position. He has won numerous journalistic awards and has lectured on Vatican affairs in the United States and Europe.

In 2012 Thavis retired from his Rome position to devote full time to writing, and moved with his family back to Minnesota. His book, The Vatican Diaries, was published in 2013 by Viking-Penguin and immediately became a New York Times bestseller. A second book, The Vatican Prophecies: Investigating Supernatural Signs, Apparitions, and Miracles in the Modern Age, has been lauded as “a compulsory read for any Catholics who may think they understand the mysterious side of their faith.” He worked as an on-air commentator for ABC News during the papal conclave of 2013, and has been a collaborator on a number of video projects, including the 2018 CNN series, “Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History.” His blog at www.johnthavis.com features analysis of Vatican affairs.

John Otis

Wednesday, 8.13.25, 6:00-7:30

New York Times Bestselling Author

Watch for announcement on 8.1.25

Tuesday, 10.7.25, 6:00-7:30