2008 Dates & Books

May 27

The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown

From Elizabeth Strout of The Washington Post:

This gentle, lyrical book opens outward slowly, taking its time -- sometimes too much time. But Carrie Brown, the author of Rose's Garden and Confinement, among others, is good at evoking place, and here she captures young Alice's visceral response to the physical word. Alice uses her made-up camera to sweep over the orchards and lawn and daffodils, and we feel her connection to the land itself; the world is her friend.

"Virginia Voices" series of the Roanoke public library will feature author Carrie Brown discussing her new book May 13th, Free. 7 p.m. Tuesday. HQ/419 Library, 3131 Electric Road S.W., Roanoke. 772-7507.

Carrie Brown is Associate Professor of English at Sweet Briar College.  Her previous novel, Confinement, won the Library of Virginia Book Award.

Our June selection is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

Past meetings

April 29

Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors

From the India Post:

Beneath a Marble Sky is a story which literally speaks to you. In his first novel, John Shors brilliantly recounts one of the world's greatest love stories, narrated against a backdrop of hatred and violence.

If you readers agree, we’d like to convene at Taaza (around the corner from the studio) and enjoy some Indian treats while we discuss this book.

Our May book is The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown. The author will speak at HQ library on Electric Rd May 13 at 7pm.

March 25

They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Alphonsion Deng

(Featured guest - via teleconference: Kim Grubb, a William & Mary graduate who just returned from two years as a Peace Corps worker in Zambia)

Three young Sudanese boys -- Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Benjamin Ajak -- tell their own story (with the help of Judy A. Bernstein) in They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan

In this tender and lyrical story, the world of some of Africa's most desperate children -- running away from war and toward life -- is vividly evoked. The authors escaped bombings and attacks on their villages and survived a sandstorm-swept trek to Ethiopia, only to be forced into a thousand-mile walk to the sweltering, overcrowded refugee camps on the Ethiopia-Kenya border. They were later picked as among the camps' brightest residents and resettled in San Diego by the International Rescue Committee, an American nonprofit group…. One of the most riveting stories ever told of African childhoods, and a stirring tale of courage.  (Washington Post)

In 2001, over a dozen of these Sudanese youths were settled in Roanoke.

Our discussant, by teleconference, is Kimberly Grubb, 2005 William & Mary Graduate who returned to Virginia last fall from Zambia where she assisted South Africa’s HIV awareness campaign.  The book selection is from her recommended list.  Ben Martin will interview Kim for the Studio Virginia radio program.

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Related local information:  An exhibit of Melanie Blanding’s photographs documenting violence against Congolese women will be on display at the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke from March 9 to April 30.  Congo’s silent scream http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/152715