August 21, 2023
Trine University’s Short Story Club, sponsored by the Humanities Institute, has announced its selections for the fall and spring semesters.
The club is designed for those who like talking about stories and ideas with others, but don’t have time to read a novel. It meets virtually, with participants receiving a copy of the story and a Teams link prior to each meeting.
All meetings begin at 5:30 p.m.
Stories in the fall semester feature the theme of facing challenges, whether normal life challenges or supernatural.
On Sept. 21, the club will discuss “A Manual for Cleaning Women” by Lucia Berlin. The story, from Berlin’s collection by the same title, focuses on a woman who monotonously cleans for others, while getting a glimpse into their lives and reflecting on her own.
“The Sleepwalkers” by Ursula K. Le Guin will be covered on Oct. 19. In this story, characters ponder a maid and her past. Ultimately, their projections onto the maid tell us more about them than her.
The fall finishes with “The Tomato Thief” by Ursula Vernon on Nov. 16. Grandma Harken finds herself drawn into a complex magical plot when she stays up late to catch whomever has been stealing tomatoes from her garden.
Stories in the spring feature main characters trying to decide whether to disrupt patterns in their lives, and how they either come to terms with the patterns or decide to disrupt them.
On Jan. 25, the club will discuss “Silence” by Alice Munro. In this story, Juliet goes to a retreat to pick up her adult daughter after six months, only to find her daughter isn’t there.
“The Poacher” by Ursula K. Le Guin will be covered on Feb. 22. That story focuses on a peasant boy who discovers an enchanted castle with all its occupants sleeping.
The last short story of the year will be “Kiss Me Goodbye” by Tracey Baptiste, featured on March 28. This story comes from the collection Magic Has No Borders, which focuses on South Asian folklore, legends and epics.
For additional information, or to get a story and Teams link, contact Jeanette Goddard, Ph.D., associate professor in Trine University’s Department of Humanities and Communication and director of the Humanities Institute, at goddardj@trine.edu.
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