Good Thunder features Minnesota author Peter Geye

Amanda Filreis
Staff Writer

On Thursday, Jan. 30, a Good Thunder reading of Minnesotan author Peter Geye took place in CSU245. There was a fairly large crowd gathered for the event. A table piled high with copies of the author’s books was available for purchase and for signings after the event. 

At 7:30pm, an introduction was given along with an apology. According to the posters posted over the campus, it was supposed to be a reading with captions. However, the captions were sadly taken out due to some unforeseen technical issues occurring. 

Geye then took the stage. After giving his greetings, he began to describe his journey to getting his later books published after a 10-year battle to begin his official writing career. In his earlier years, he found himself drawn to photobooks and photograph history books to keep himself connected to his home in Minnesota. This connection was especially true for the picture of a young woman visiting a lumbering facility. He stated how it made him curious about her history. With that, he decided to create a story based on how he pictured what her life could potentially have been. 

He briefly mentioned which parts of his selected books he would be reading from. The first one was the ending of his Winter book followed by the beginning of the newest title of the series. Once the reading had concluded, there was some time available for questions to be asked. 

The first question was how the location influenced hi, whether he saw the place as its’ own character or not. The answer to this was yes. The setting was, in a way, a character due to the fact that he found it hard to write about places without a personal connection to him.

The next question was about whether or not he ever felt tired of writing about the family of his stories. He said no, as they had become to feel like his own family. With the story now concluded, he felt a sense of loss without the family whom he had grown to have constant difficulties with and yet was strangely drawn to.

While he didn’t wish to answer the question of the publishing of his first novel which took 10 years to accomplish, he did mention the first thing his editor said when they first met: “Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you. So, we have to do something about all these rocks and trees.” He explained that when first writing, he tended to go into an excessive amount of detail in describing the landscape and the weather.

He ended the night by stating that the most successful people are those who work the hardest and can take multiple rejections. 

Header photo courtesy of Good Thunder Reading Series.