Common Reading

FALL 2008: OCTC is excited to announce our Fall 2008 Common Reading selection: Dismal Rock by Davis McCombs. Beginning in August, OCTC students and the community will be invited to read this meaningful poetry collection by McCombs, a KY native and winner of the prestigious Yale Younger Poets Prize. All of the poems are set in Kentucky, in the Bowling Green area, and feature relatable topics such as tobacco farming, family history, and fatherhood. McCombs will join us in the fall for a reading (see below). More information will be provided on this website and on the Links page (see sidebar).

*The tentative date for Davis McCombs' fall reading is Wed. Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. in Blandford Hall (Humanities Building) on the main campus of OCTC. The public and all faculty, staff, and students of OCTC are invited!

Check back here for other announcements about events related our Fall 2008 reading.

*Follow this link to an information page for the Spring 2008 Owensboro BIG READ information and more web resources about The Joy Luck Club, the author, Owensboro activities, and Chinese-American culture. Although the individual events for The Big Read in Owensboro have ended, The Joy Luck Club and other titles by Amy Tan are also available at OCTC's main campus library and the Daviess County Public Library. What is The Big Read? Find information at: http://www.neabigread.org/about.php. *Follow this link to The Big Read's website for more information about the book and The Big Read and Teacher's Guides. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

*As a follow-up to OCTC's Fall 2007 Common Reading, you may be interested to know that Frank X Walker's When Winter Come: The Ascension of York (a sequel to Buffalo Dance) is now available. Check for it at www.kentuckypress.com.

Each semester a book is selected as OCTC’s Common Reading, with the idea that all participants could read the same material and have common ground for new discussions and mutual interests. While the book choices vary in many ways (different genres, time-periods, subject matters) they are chosen with the intention of expanding the knowledge and perspectives of readers. The background of the selected writers is diverse; however, many Kentucky and regional writers are also included in order to help us appreciate local talent, acknowledge shared concerns, and celebrate our common heritage. All OCTC students, staff, faculty, and interested community members are invited and encouraged to participate by reading the books and attending the related presentations each semester.