BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam//NONSGML v1.0//EN NAME:Book Club: Skin Folk | session 3 METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20260122T181500 DTEND:20260122T194500 DTSTAMP:20260122T181500 UID:2026/book-club-skin-folk-sessi@8F96275E-9F55-4B3F-A143-836282E12573 CREATED:20260415T124647 LOCATION: SUMMARY:Book Club: Skin Folk | session 3 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Library Book Club i s everybody’s book club. Fancy a refreshing read and change of scen ery? Come and read ‘Skin Folk’ with us: the award winning 2001 sh ort stories by Grand Master in science-fiction and fantasy, Nalo Hopk inson. 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

Acclaim for Nalo Hopkinson’s work didn’t end with her third book Skin Folk: in addition to n umerous 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, edi tor 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 recomm end buying a digital version.

This l ast session, we’ll be discussing chapters “A Habit of Waste,” � ��Precious” and “Riding the Red” (totalling to 28 page s). For earlier sessions reading material consists of “Snake” and “Tan-Tan and Dry Bone” (session 1); and “The Glass Bottle Tr ick” and “Slow Cold Chick” (session 2).

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 wel come to already join the table starting 5:30 p.m. to bridge a gap in your schedule, for example.

Sessions ta ke place in the Library Lounge at the entrance of the Univer sity Library in the Main Building (HG-01A01).

There’s no need to sign up. If you’d like to receive up dates and also to vote for books in the future, you can join the group chat (Wh atsApp).

About (this season of) the Li brary Book Club

The Library Book Club is for an yone 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 wa y. 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 easi est way to get involved is through the group chat (WhatsApp). You can find the event pages for the other two sessions here:

< a data-item-id="5bd1697f-d22e-4078-9bfc-392f79e04768" href="/en/event s/2026/book-club-skin-folk-session-1">8 January, session 1 < /li>
15 January, session 2

This season of the Library Book Club, we’re reading short stories. First of all, it fits the time of year, consi dering January can be rather demanding (with the four-week study peri od and all). The reading load is low, with two stories (about 30 page s) to read each session. Secondly, short stories are often amazing di scussion material: brevity allows authors to put forward ideas sharpl y and concisely without the load of overly extensive world building. This allows our book club to delve into the material a bit more in de pth: to analyse, interpret and speculate.

Schedule

5:30 p.m. walk-in: yo u’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 experi ence and findings reading the book so far.
7:25 p.m. summarising: we look ahead to the next session, and summari se today’s session.
7:45 p.m. end or soci alising: we end the session, although you’re welcome to stick aroun d until the building closes.

DESCRIPTION:

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, w inning the World Fantasy Award. Acclaim for Nalo Hopkinso n’s work didn’t end with her third book Skin Folk: in ad dition to numerous awards for other books, in 2020 she received the d istinction 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 last session, we’ll be discussing chapters “A Habit of Wa ste,” “Precious” and “Riding the Red” (totalling t o 28 pages). For earlier sessions reading material consists of “Sna ke” and “Tan-Tan and Dry Bone” (session 1); and “The Glass Bottle Trick” and “Slow Cold Chick” (session 2).
Th is season of the book club consists of three weekly sessions< /strong> (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.

Se ssions take place in the Library Lounge at the entrance of t he University Library in the Main Building (HG-01A01).
There’s no need to sign up. If you’d like to r eceive 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 i s for anyone roaming VU’s campus. We read a few books each year, an d try to throw something new into the mix each time; passing fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose, short stories and longer ones alon g the way. Our librarians select three candidates for a season and yo u 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 c an find the event pages for the other two sessions here:

8 January, session 1

15 January, ses sion 2
This season of the Library Book Club, we� �re reading short stories. First of all, it fits the time of year, co nsidering January can be rather demanding (with the four-week study p eriod and all). The reading load is low, with two stories (about 30 p ages) to read each session. Secondly, short stories are often amazing discussion material: brevity allows authors to put forward ideas sha rply and concisely without the load of overly extensive world buildin g. 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 di nner.
6:15 p.m. opening: we kick off with a round of introductions, and a brief introduction to the book. < br>6:25 p.m. group discussion: we share our experien ce 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 social ising: we end the session, although you’re welcome to stick around until the building closes. 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 b y Grand Master in science-fiction and fantasy, Nalo Hopkinson. So, en joy your winter break with a surprising and diverse read; and have so mething to look forward to for the new year! END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR