Our African Studies community is thrilled that Chancellor Rebecca Blank has selected Transcendent Kingdom, as the featured book for 2021-22 common reading program, GO BIG READ. To celebrate, African Studies has teamed up with Ainehi Edoro’s Brittle Paper to develop a series of programs and activities that will highlight the book. Here’s how you can get involved.
REQUEST A COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF THE BOOK
All first-year students can receive a complimentary copy of the book here. Faculty may also request copies for their students here. The African Studies Program has a limited number of complimentary copies available to those who propose programming related to the book.
ORGANIZE A READING GROUP OR EVENT
Do you have an idea for an event or activity related to the book? Send your request for co-sponsorship. The African Studies Program may be able to offer complimentary copies of the book, publicity, and other support to your program. Email associate director Aleia McCord for more information.
JOIN US SEPTEMBER 15 FOR A SPECIAL AFRICA AT NOON
To kick off a semester of programming, join Ainehi Edoro (English), Sam England (African Cultural Studies), Sandra Adell (Afro-American Studies), Yaa Oparebaa Ampofo (Educational Policy Studies), and Unifer Tshimangadzo Dyer (African Cultural Studies), for a series of flash-talks that explore some of the book’s themes of race, immigration, science, faith, and family.
SUBMIT A REFLECTION FOR PUBLICATION
Share your thoughts and reflections on the book. Those interested in writing a 400-700 word review of Transcendent Kingdom will have the chance to have their review published in Brittle Paper. The deadline to submit your review is September 30. Learn more and apply.
HEAR FROM THE AUTHOR
Want a chance to hear from Yaa Gyasi? An Evening with Yaa Gyasi will take place November 3 (has been 7-8:30p) at Shannon Hall, Memorial Union Theater. The event will be produced with closed captioning and interpretation services.
Our Africa at Noon event will offer an additional opportunity to discuss Gyasi’s text. Click here to add your own event (Tag with “Go Big Read” to have it appear in this feed).
OUR AFRICAN LITERATURE LEGACY
African Studies Program faculty have long enriched the field of African literature. From the great novelist and historian A.C. Jordan to the towering intellect of Tejumola Olaniyan, our campus has always been home to some of the greatest thinkers in the field. Assistant Professor of English and African Cultural Studies, Ainehi Edoro continues that tradition with her fresh takes on African writing and literary culture. Her influential and critically acclaimed literary blog, Brittle Paper, inspires, entertains, and empowers readers through an optimistic, diverse, and immersive experience of literature. The New York Times celebrates Brittle Paper for introducing “powerful African storytellers to the global stage in the past two decades.”
ABOUT THE BOOK
Transcendent Kingdom is the story of a Ghanaian-American neuroscience graduate student at Stanford University and how her brother’s struggle with addiction leads her to explore the traumas that shaped her family’s tragic experience in the US. The entire UW-Madison community is coming together to read the book this year because it is a deeply moving story and for what it tells us about religion and science, race, and immigration.
By Carly Lucas and Aleia McCord