SPECIAL EVENT The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi One Book One Bronx in collaboration with Beyond Words Book Club and Lagos Live! will host simultaneous multi-venue conversations on Akwaeke Emezi's The Death of Vivek Oji. Named a Best Book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Teen Vogue, Vulture, Lit Hub, Bustle, Electric Literature, and BookPage, the conversations, and panel will examine the many elements of The Death of Vivek Oji that galvanize memory, identity, and familial bonds. Scheduled over several dates on Zoom and in person, this project reimagines how a community of readers can serve the cultural good. • All dates are free and open to the public ON ZOOM • Hosted by Beyond Words Book Club One Book One Bronx will join Beyond Words Book Club for a joint virtual discussion • Wednesday, 10/5, 7pm: Chapters 1-6 (pages 1-49) • Wednesday, 10/12, 7pm: Chapters 7-12 (pages 50-116) • Wednesday, 10/19, 7pm: Chapters 13-18 (pages 117-179) • Saturday, 10/22, 2pm: Chapters 19-24 (pages 180-245) IN PERSON • Hosted by One Book One Bronx James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center Farmers' Market Goulden & Sedgwick Aves. (DeWitt Clinton High School Campus) Free copies of The Death of Vivek Oji will be distributed to the first 20 participants. • Saturday, 10/8, 1pm: (introductions and free books) • Saturday, 10/15, 1pm: Chapters 1-8 (pages 1-87) • Saturday, 10/22, 2pm: Chapters 9-17 (pages 88-161) On Zoom • Saturday, 10/29, 1pm: Chapters 18-24 (pages 162-245) ------------------
VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION The Sexuality of Vivek Oji Thursday, 10/20, 7pm How can a deeper exploration of this book bring us closer to the issues that affected the short life of Vivek Oji? The panel will focus on the book's different themes: parent-child relationships, sexuality, queerphobia, and masculinity and how they manifest in communities of color. What does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew? One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son's body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family's struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and surroundings. As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives; foreign-born women married to Nigerian men. But Vivek's closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life. As their relationship deepens—and Osita struggles to understand Vivek's escalating crisis—the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom.
Propulsively readable, teeming with unforgettable characters, The Death of Vivek Oji is a novel of family and friendship that challenges expectations—a dramatic story of loss and transcendence that will move every reader. | | CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION
UP NEXT
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
2 Locations
• On Zoom: Tuesdays, 7pm: 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, & 11/15
• Zambo Aroma: Thursdays, 7pm: 10/27, 11/3, 11/10, 11/17 & 12/1 (in-person, free books) Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national bestseller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief—a novel about faith, science, religion, and love. Exquisitely written and emotionally searing, this is an exceptionally powerful follow-up to Gyasi's phenomenal debut.
| | |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment