The nine-year wait for a new Wally Lamb novel is almost over, and he’ll be talking about it as part of the Pen Pals author series in Hopkins.
Lamb kicks off the 2025-26 series, sponsored by Friends of the Hennepin County Library, this fall. The mega-selling writer of “She’s Come Undone” and “I Know This Much Is True” will discuss his upcoming “The River Is Waiting,” about a young father trying to atone for tragic events he created, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 and 11 a.m. Oct 10. Like all five Pen Pals authors, Lamb appears at Hopkins Center for the Arts but his talk also will be available in a virtual option for three days afterwards.
Laila Lalami will speak about “The Dream Hotel,” a current bestseller about a woman caught up in the government’s usage of a new technology that supposedly predicts people who will commit crimes. A National Book Award nominee for “The Other Americans” and Pulitzer Prize nominee for “The Moor’s Account,” Lalami appears at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 and 11 a.m. Oct. 29.
A National Book Award finalist last year for the satiric “Martyr!,” Kaveh Akbar will be in Hopkins at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 11 a.m. Dec. 9. And National Book Award winner (for “South to America”) Imani Perry will discuss her new book, “Black in Blues,” at 7:30 p.m. March 5, 2026, and 11 a.m. March 6, 2026.
The season concludes with Ariel Lawhon, whose most recent novel is bestseller “The Frozen River.” Lawhon will discuss the thriller about an 18th-century midwife at 7:30 p.m. April 30, 2026, and 11 a.m. May 1, 2026.
Tickets for Pen Pals packages, beginning at $220, go on sale to existing subscribers Thursday and to the general public June 27 at supporthclib.org/pen-pals.
