For nearly 20 years, the EveryWoman Book Club has offered community members of The University of Alabama a space to discuss the literature of women. The club is put on by UA’s Women’s and Gender Resource Center. The next meeting is set for Thursday, Feb. 22, in Legends Bistro, which is in the basement of Hotel Capstone.
Reading selections have been announced for the semester, including Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, in celebration of Black History Month. The book club has been on campus almost as long as the resource center itself and meets on the fourth Thursday of every month. All UA campus community members excluding undergraduates can join.
Elizabeth Lester is the program manager for the WGRC and has led the book club for the past five years. She said interested participants are welcome to show up at the group, even if they haven’t done the reading.
“I even tell people, it’s OK if you don’t finish the book,” said Lester. “I think the number-one thing is community building. I really recommend joining a book club because you’re going to have a community around you.”
The long-running club has fostered a tight-knit community of readers since the early days of the WGRC, according to Lester. While attendance numbers are usually in the single digits, she said this is to be expected when a group like EveryWoman Book Club has been running for so long. She added she was very happy when someone else in the club brought up leading a discussion on Song of Solomon this month.
“I typically lead and facilitate the book club. I choose the books,” said Lester. “For about the past three years, I facilitated every book. We're opening it back up to [where] anybody can facilitate. It really takes a load off my shoulders.”
Chosen books often coincide with different heritage months that the resource center is putting on events for, such as Black History Month in February or Women’s History Month in March. Lester says the goal of the club is to elevate the stories of women.
“Historically, women's writing has been erased. It's been unacknowledged. It's been seen as lesser,” said Lester. “If you look at the canon of English literature, it's historically mostly white men. There's no way that women collectively don't belong in that group. If you look at the 100 Greatest American novels, it's going to be like literally one or two [women].”
Some of the books covered this semester include the aforementioned Song of Solomon, as well as Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied and Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Lester mentioned that there have been multiple attempts to start an undergraduate book club, but there has never been enough attendance to keep one running.
The next meeting for the EveryWoman Book Club is set for Thursday, Feb. 22. Anyone looking to join can do so by emailing Lester at Elester1@ua.edu.
More information can be found on the WGRC website.
