One college, one book: Get reading!

We're launching this year's Algonquin Reads, at the President's Breakfast! Stop by our table and enter our draw for a free copy of Alice Munro's book, View from Castle Rock.  The book is also available at Connections: The Campus Store and through the AC Library.

Next year's book!

Plan to relax with a good book this summer? Try The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro

When Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for literature for 2013, the Algonquin Reads committee decided it was time to choose a book by this renowned Canadian author for the college community to read. The View from Castle Rock, the Algonquin Reads book for 2014/2015, includes stories about several generations of Alice Munro’s family, from their roots in Scotland to her life in rural Ontario and everything in between. She interweaves her ancestors’ writing with her own in what she insists are “stories,” not strictly memoir. This collection shows her as the “master of the contemporary short story” as she is described in the Nobel announcement. The View from Castle Rock is now available at Connections – The Campus Store for $15.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the winners of the Algonquin Reads Student Contest!

The winners are:
Breanne Leblanc won in the Critical essay category, for her essay entitled Survival in Indian Horse. She won $150.00

Victoria Crawley won in the Creative category, for her poem entitled Victim. 

Both entries were published in the April 3 edition of Algonquin Times, with an article about them as well. 

Congratulations to Breanne and Victoria!

Live over Skype!

For the first time ever, Algonquin Reads hosted an author reading session over Skype.  Richard Wagamese, the author of Indian Horse, lives in British Columbia and graciously agreed to fit us into his schedule, corresponding nicely with the Algonquin Learning Resource Centre’s Library Week, in October. The event was held in the beautiful Mamidosewin Centre, and the staff there treated us to Moose stew and other refreshments.   The technology for the Skype session went off without a hitch, thanks to our wonderful ITS team.  The only problem was…. I couldn’t get the author to sign my copy of the book!

It was a great session, attended by staff, faculty and students.  Richard Wagamese read a selection from his book and answered questions from the audience. He was funny and serious and gave helpful advice to aspiring authors in the audience.  He even gave us a sneak preview of his next book, Medicine Walk, coming out in April. 

Thanks for all the assistance from the Learning Resource Centre the Mamidosewin Centre. And a big thank you to everyone who attended!

Congratulations to Alice Munro!

Algonquin Reads is all about promoting Canadian literature and encouraging the love of reading. We also wish to bring people together across Algonquin College to enjoy books, discuss books and participate in activities together with people we may not otherwise meet.

So we were ecstatic to learn of Alice Munro winning the Nobel Prize of Literature, the first Canadian author to do so.  This is an exciting time for Canadian literature, for books and for reading.  Congratulations to Alice Munro!

Richard Wagamese coming to Algonquin!

Richard Wagamese will be coming to us live over Skype, on Thursday Oct 17 from 12-1. Join us in the beautiful Mamidosewin Centre, in the Student Commons building at Woodroffe campus, Algonquin College. He will be reading selections from his book, Indian Horse, the 2013-2014 Algonquin Reads book.  Free refreshments will be served! Hope to see you then!

For more information, please contact Helena Merriam at merriah [at] algonquincollege.com

Welcome to Algonquin Reads!

If you are new to Algonquin College, or new to Algonquin Reads, welcome!  If you are a returning fan, happy to have you back!

Algonquin Reads is a student and faculty initiative to get the Algonquin College community to come together and share the enjoyment of reading. We pick a new book each year and encourage everyone to read the book and participate in events throughout the school year. 

This year's book is Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, a great read, and an important book, as well. We hope to have a variety of activities throughout the year, and hope you can join in with us.

Our first event is a fundraising book sale on Oct 9 and 10th, to raise money for our student writing contest and author talks. 

For more information about Algonquin Reads, please contact Helena Merriam at merriah@algonquincollege.com

Happy Reading!