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 date for Davis McCombs' 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.

*Check-out the Dismal Rock book display now available in the OCTC main campus library. There are books related to many of the subjects in Dismal Rock, including: smoking, tobacco and farming, Kentucky history, and Mammoth Cave.

*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 individual events for The Big Read in Owensboro have ended, but The Joy Luck Club and other titles by Amy Tan are 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.

*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.