The Library Book Club is everybody’s book club. Fancy a refreshing read and change of scenery? Come and read ‘Skin Folk’ with us: the award winning 2001 short stories by Grand Master in science-fiction and fantasy, Nalo Hopkinson. So, enjoy your winter break with a surprising and diverse read; and have something to look forward to for the new year!
About Skin Folk
Skin Folk is a wildly diverse collection of short stories, spanning genres of folklore, science-fiction, horror and romance. Written by Caribbean-Canadian author Nalo Hopkinson and published in 2001, it was received remarkably well — for example, winning the World Fantasy Award.
Acclaim for Nalo Hopkinson’s work didn’t end with her third book Skin Folk: in addition to numerous awards for other books, in 2020 she received the distinction of ‘Damon Knight Grand Master’ by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, recognising her role in the genre as author, editor and teacher.
Practicalities
- Ensure you obtain a (digital) copy of the book. As it turns out, the publisher ran out of printed books, so we recommend buying a digital version.
- This second session we’re discussing chapters “The Glass Bottle Trick” and “Slow Cold Chick” (totalling to 30 pages). For the previous session reading material consists of “Snake” and “Tan-Tan and Dry Bone”; and the last session spans “A Habit of Waste,” “Precious” and “Riding the Red.”
- This season of the book club consists of three weekly sessions (8, 15 and 22 January). Sessions start at 6:15 p.m., but you’re welcome to already join the table starting 5:30 p.m. to bridge a gap in your schedule, for example.
- Sessions take place in the Library Lounge at the entrance of the University Library in the Main Building (HG-01A01).
- There’s no need to sign up. If you’d like to receive updates and also to vote for books in the future, you can join the group chat (WhatsApp).
About (this season of) the Library Book Club
The Library Book Club is for anyone roaming VU’s campus. We read a few books each year, and try to throw something new into the mix each time; passing fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose, short stories and longer ones along the way. Our librarians select three candidates for a season and you get to vote. If you’d like to engage with this group more often, the easiest way to get involved is through the group chat (WhatsApp). You can find the event pages for the other two sessions here:
This season of the Library Book Club, we’re reading short stories. First of all, it fits the time of year, considering January can be rather demanding (with the four-week study period and all). The reading load is low, with two stories (about 30 pages) to read each session. Secondly, short stories are often amazing discussion material: brevity allows authors to put forward ideas sharply and concisely without the load of overly extensive world building. This allows our book club to delve into the material a bit more in depth: to analyse, interpret and speculate.
Schedule
5:30 p.m. walk-in: you’re welcome to come in early, to bridge time or to bring and have dinner.
6:15 p.m. opening: we kick off with a round of introductions, and a brief introduction to the book.
6:25 p.m. group discussion: we share our experience and findings reading the book so far.
7:25 p.m. summarising: we look ahead to the next session, and summarise today’s session.
7:45 p.m. end or socialising: we end the session, although you’re welcome to stick around until the building closes.
