The University of Guelph has launched a common reading project that brings together first-year students and community members to read and discuss a single book.
The inaugural Gryphons Read features U of G graduate Zoe Whittall’s novel The Best Kind of People.
As the first Gryphons Reads featured writer, Whittall will meet with students and give a public talk at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 in War Memorial Hall. Writer and journalist Rachel Giese will moderate the talk, which is free and open to everyone.
“I’m so thrilled about it – of all the books that could have been selected, for The Best Kind of People to be chosen is just incredible,” said Whittall, who graduated with a master of fine arts in creative writing from U of G in 2009.
“I’m really honoured, and look forward to talking about the book with readers.”
The Best Kind of People examines what happens to a family – a mother, a son and a daughter – when the husband and father is accused of sexually assaulting students in the high school where he teaches.
“I can’t think of a better novel than The Best Kind of People to kick off the inaugural Gryphons Read program. Enjoy the novel, the conversations and the visits,” said Prof. Lawrence Hill, School of English and Theatre Studies, and chair of the Gryphons Read organizing committee.
This novel can foster dialogue through a common reading program, said Charlotte Yates, U of G provost and vice-president (academic).
“Books bring us together in ways no other media can,” Yates said. “I look forward to having important conversations as we read the same novel by a renowned Canadian author.”
Gryphons Read engages students as participants as well as trainers and facilitators of small-group discussions. U of G’s Student Life runs and evaluates the program, which involves the College of Arts, the Office of the Provost and the McLaughlin Library.
“We contributed to the development of Gryphons Read because we believe it will be beneficial to campus programming for years to come,” said chief librarian Rebecca Graham.
The Best Kind of People, a national bestseller, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was selected by Indigo as the Book of the Year in 2016. Whittall’s debut novel, Bottle Rocket Hearts (2007), made the Globe and Mail’s Top 100 Books of the Year and CBC Canada Reads’ Top 10 Essential Novels of the Decade.