Virtual International Literature Book Club
Join us on Zoom for now to discuss recent works written by foreign authors. Expand your literary sensibilities! If you're interested, click on the registration link below to receive an invitation with the joining link to participate. We generally meet every third Wednesday evening of the month (though in January, we're meeting on January 27th so as not to conflict with national events of consequence).
REGISTER ONCE TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS ALL THE MEETINGS HERE.
Our selected titles for the first few months of 2021 are:
January - "Air of Solitude" and "Requiem" by Gustave Roud (in this two-part work, the author, living on his grandfather's farm, tries to piece together the past and the present, contemplating rural bodies and a male laborer of the Vaudois . . . SWITZERLAND)
February - "Arid Dreams" by Duanwad Pimwana (thirteen stories that explore race, gender, and disillusionment in working-class Thailand . . . THAILAND). If copies are unavailable, we'll read Dressed for a Dance in the Snow instead (see May below)
March - "Afrotopia" by Felwine Sarr (an examination of Africa's unique communal values and landscape of traditions, culling from the works of African intellectuals, artists, and musicians . . . SENEGAL). If sufficient copies are unavailable, we'll read The Siege of Troy instead (see Option 1 below)
April - "Princess Bari" by Hwang Sok-yong (the story of a young girl who escapes famine and death in 1990s North Korea . . . SOUTH KOREA). If sufficient copies are unavailable, we'll read The Book of Disappearance instead (see Option 2 below)
May - "Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag" by Monika Zgustova (an unexpectedly uplifting account of women's suffering and resilience in Stalin's forced labor camps, diligently transcribed in the kitchens and living rooms of nine survivors . . . CZECHOSLOVAKIA/RUSSIA)
*If you are interested in buying any of the above titles, either to participate in the book club or for your own pleasure and enlightenment, please order below or put your order in at our cash counter. In case we encounter difficulties ordering any of the above titles, we will select others as needed from the following optional titles:
Option 1 - "The Siege of Troy" by Theodor Kallifatides (a retelling of "The Iliad" from the point of view of a young Greek teacher who tries to contextualize the Nazi occupation to her students through the history of myths . . . GREECE)
Option 2 - "The Book of Disappearance" by Ibtisam Azem (a novel set in contemporary Tel Aviv 48 hours after Israelis discover that all of their Palestinian neighbors have vanished . . . ISRAEL/PALESTINE)
**We will finalize our 2021 list at the January 27th meeting when we'll discuss and determine additional titles for the year, so it's a perfect time to join the group! For lists of past picks, please see the attached PDF documents below.