Writer and actor Wallace Shawn is making two Twin Cities appearances this week at the Pen Pals series sponsored by (and benefiting) the Friends of the Hennepin County Library.

He will speak Thursday evening at 7:30 and Friday morning at 11 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hopkins.

Shawn made the news last month when it was announced that he and Andre Gregory, art-house stars of "My Dinner With Andre," will be making a new movie this spring based on Ibsen's play, "Master Builder."

The movie will be adapted by Shawn and directed by Jonathan Demme. The New York Times reported that it would be shot in about a week this spring at Pen and Brush, an art club in the East Village of New York.

Tickets ($15-$75) to the Pen Pals talks by Shawn are still available. Call 612-543-8112.