Tue, June 23 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

“It would be ten years before they saw each other again, and their meeting would be thick with birds.” This Delve will explore female friendship, as written by women writers, through both a fiction and nonfiction lens. These friendships are complex and nuanced, sometimes ugly, sometimes enduring, and sometimes one of the most significant relationships of a lifetime. Through Toni Morrison's beautiful and stirring Sula and Nel, Hungarian writer Szabo's unlikely relationship between a woman and her housekeeper in The…

Tue, July 7 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

From the precolonial period to modern times, these two authors show the complexity of Nigerian history: the original tribal forms of organizing the society, where the strong man rules for good and for bad; the colonial era where those tribal communities transform in order to negotiate with the colonizers; and the postcolonial period that shows how the thirst for oil from the western powers also generates conflicts between the native peoples and a level of corruption that pervade every aspect…

Thu, July 9 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” Explore Czech writer Kundera alongside some of his inspirations. We will begin with his most famous work, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, reading both the original text and exploring major influences on this work, through excerpts from Kafka and Nietzsche. We will also read his novel Immortality and short story collection Laughable Loves. We will discuss what is distinctive about Kundera's style, such as his lyrical writing…

Wed, July 15 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

In her book The Ethics of Ambiguity, the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir asks us to consider what it means to exercise individual freedom and to live in community with others. Where does our individual freedom begin and end? Simone de Beauvoir claims that our personal freedom can be manifest only when we “will others free.” How do we create a life where we protect our individual freedom and work toward the freedom of our neighbor? Can both forms of freedom…

Tue, August 4 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

“Opam-pogyakyena shinoshinonkarintsi. Me está mirando la tristeza.” Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa is known for his prolific oeuvre, particularly his long historical novels that portray different aspects and eras of Peru and other parts of Latin America; and yet, his less-known shorter works are narrative gems that show the complexities of the human condition, with characters that cross both geographic and fundamental inner boundaries. We will discuss Death in the Andes and The Storyteller, two books whose protagonists step…

Thu, August 20 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

A look at 3 contemporary Korean writers. From a haunting meditation on grief to a powerful examination on capitalism, participants will discuss the themes that bind and distinguish these texts.Discussions will also focus on how translation affects our understanding of these novels as well as elements of Korean culture and current affairs that are uniquely reflected in these works. This seminar is offered exclusively for people of color Reading List: The White Book, Han Kang The Impossible Fairy, Han Yujoo…