FEATURING BOOKS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

A discussion of Zitkála-Šá's memoir, American Indian Stories.
 

The Around the World Book Club is a book-discussion group focused on global literature. The books selected for this club feature voices from outside the mainstream American literary tradition and were usually published oversees.

In American Indian Stories, groundbreaking Dakota author and activist Zitkála-Šá chronicles her refusal to assimilate into nineteenth-century white society and her mission to preserve her culture. Combining Zitkála-Šá’s childhood memories, her short stories, and her poetry, the book is the origin story of an activist in the making, a remarkable woman whose extraordinary career deserves wider recognition.

Attendees will be reading a newly-issued edition of American Indian Stories, published as part of The Modern Library Torchbearers series. It includes an introduction by Layli Long Soldier, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Whereas.

A BOOK AND ITS ON-SCREEN ADAPTATION

A discussion of Stephen King's novella The Body, and of its 1986 film adaptation, Stand By Me.
 

The Double Negative Book Club is a discussion group in which a work of literature is examined in reference to its on-screen (film or TV) adaptation. 

It’s 1960 in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Ray Brower, a boy from a nearby town, has disappeared, and 12-year-old Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find his body along the railroad tracks. During the course of their journey, Gordie, Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio come to terms with death and the harsh truths of growing up in a small factory town that doesn’t offer much in the way of a future. A timeless exploration of the loneliness and isolation of young adulthood, Stephen King’s The Body is an iconic, unforgettable, coming-of-age story.

Attendees will be reading a newly-released stand-alone edition of The Body (originally published as part of the collection Different Seasons). Stand By Me is available to rent via Apple iTunes, Amazon.com, and through the Las Vegas-Clark County Library district. Please note: The Writer's Block will not be screening Stand By Me.

A READING AND SIGNING WITH ELIZABETH QUIÑONES-ZALDAÑA, IN SUPPORT OF HER POETRY CHAPBOOK, BOUGAINVILLEA

Join us for a reading with Elizabeth Quiñones-Zaldaña, celebrating the publication of her poetry chapbook, Bougainvillea. Publised by Tolsun Books, a small press based out of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, Bougainvillea is Quiñones-Zaldaña’s debut collection. The reading will be hosted by Tolsun editor-in-chief (and Clark County Poet Laureate) Heather Lang-Cassera; poets Jennifer Battisti and Jesse Sensibar will be opening.
 

Elizabeth Quiñones-Zaldaña earned a B.A. in English from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her poetry has been published in From Snowcaps to Desert Flats: An Anthology of Latino Writers in Nevada; Legs of Tumbleweeds, Wings of Lace: An Anthology of Literature by Nevada Women; Clark: Poetry from Clark County, Nevada; and 300 Days of Sun. Her poetry has also been featured in visual art exhibits through the Nevada Humanities Program Gallery and the Las Vegas Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Elizabeth has served as a judge for the Nevada Arts Council’s 2017 Poetry Out Loud Recitation Competition, as a panelist for the Las Vegas Book Festival's 2018 “Heart of Poetry: Nevada Voices,” and as a poet-educator through other Nevada Arts Council and Nevada Humanities educational programs. She lives in southern Nevada with her husband and three children.

This event is free and open to the public.