Dal Reads
2020/21 Program & Events
Title selection for Dal Reads 2021/22
Butter Honey Pig Bread, Francesca Ekwuyasi
This book is available as an ebook through the Dalhousie Libraries. For more information on how to access the ebook, please consult the ebook LibGuide. There were a limited number of physical copies of the Dal Reads book available on campus this year.
About the book:
Butter Honey Pig Bread is a story of choices and their consequences, of motherhood, of the malleable line between the spirit and the mind, of finding new homes and mending old ones, of voracious appetites, of queer love, of friendship, faith, and above all, family.
Francesca Ekwuyasi's debut novel tells the interwoven stories of twin sisters, Kehinde and Taiye, and their mother, Kambirinachi. Kambirinachi feels she was born an Ogbanje, a spirit that plagues families with misfortune by dying in childhood to cause its mother misery. She believes that she has made the unnatural choice of staying alive to love her human family and now lives in fear of the consequences of that decision. (from https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/B/Butter-Honey-Pig-Bread)
2021/22 Events
Books & Bees: Dal Reads presents a conversation with Francesca Ekwuyasi and Cooper Lee Bombardier
Thursday, February 10, 7 p.m.
Learn more and register here.
An evening with Francesca Ekwuyasi
Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 7 p.m.
Learn more and register here.
Teaching Butter Honey Pig Bread
For those teaching Butter Honey Pig Bread, this LibGuide pulls together interviews with the author, as well as resources related to the book.
About Dal Reads
Dal Reads is designed to encourage people in the Dalhousie community to share their love of books. Launched in 2009, the program brings the Dalhousie community together through the shared experience of reading the same book and taking part in programming related to the book.
Programming may include author readings, book club-type discussions, film viewings, and other events and opportunities to celebrate a shared love of reading. In addition, faculty members may choose to include the Dal Reads book in their course curriculum.
Dal Reads aims to provide a common intellectual experience. We hope that this format will encourage lots of discussion and the development of exciting new and innovative programming.
Faculty interested in using Butter Honey Pig Bread as part of a course or program can give their class access to the ebook. Please consult the ebook LibGuide if you encounter technical difficulties.
Selection Criteria
A Dal Reads book:
- must be able to generate discussion and exchange of ideas
- must be appealing to a broad range of readers of varying ages, literacy levels, and life experience
- must be in print and available for purchase in paperback
- must be strongly written with elements that will generate excitement among readers.
Goals
Dal Reads aims to:
- provide first-year students with a common intellectual experience that will serve as an introduction to both Dalhousie University and post-secondary academic life in general
- encourage reading for pleasure
- provide an opportunity for connection (students, faculty, staff, undergrads, grads, regardless of area of study)
- provide a unique social activity
- draw on the social elements of reading
- provide an opportunity for the Dalhousie Libraries to promote the collection in a new way
- connect with the curriculum and other university activities and interests
Read the ebook of Butter Honey Pig Bread today! Please consult the ebook LibGuide if you are having technical difficulties.
Steering Committee
| Samantha Adema | Indigenous Services Librarian, Dalhousie Libraries |
Donna Bourne-Tyson |
Dean of Libraries |
| Terra Bruhm | Student Success Advisor, Bissett Student Success Centre |
| Judy Davidson | Course Materials Manager, Dalhousie Bookstore |
Sarah Davis |
Access Services/Digital Initiatives, Dalhousie Libraries |
| Heather Doyle | Heather Doyle, Director of Assessment & Special Projects, Student Affairs |
Patti Doyle-Bedwell |
Faculty, College of Continuing Education |
| Deborah Hemming | Learning & Instruction Librarian, Dalhousie Libraries |
| Margot Latimer | Faculty, School of Nursing, Senate representative |
Marlo MacKay (chair) |
Communications Coordinator, Dalhousie Libraries |
| Nicole Maunsell | Communications Manager, Faculty of Management |
Shelley McKibbon |
Health Sciences Librarian, Dalhousie Libraries |
| Brandon Randall | Residence Life |
| Margaret Robinson | Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Social Anthropology |
| Jolene Reid | Document Delivery/Government Documents, Dalhousie Libraries |
| Isaac Saney | Director of the Transition Year Program (TYP) |
Karen Smith |
Special Collections Librarian, Dalhousie Libraries |
| Hannah Steeves | Law Librarian, Dalhousie Libraries |
| Hanna Stewart | Vice President (Internal), Dalhousie Student Union |
| Art Stevens | Aboriginal Student Advisor |
| Erin Wunkner | Associate Professor, Department of English |
Dal Reads Titles 2009–2021
| 2009–2011 | The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill |
| 2012 | Twenty-Six, Leo McKay Jr. (partnership with One Book Nova Scotia) |
| 2013 | Fauna, Alissa York (partnership with One Book Nova Scotia) |
| 2014 | Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan |
| 2015 | A Year of Living Generously, Lawrence Scanlan |
| 2016 | The Hermit of Africville, Jon Tattrie |
| 2017 | We Were Not the Savages, Daniel Paul |
| 2018 | Brown Girl in the Ring, Nalo Hopkinson |
| 2019 | Song of Rita Joe: Autobiography of a Mi'kmaw Poet, Rita Joe |
| 2020 | The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline |
| 2021 | Butter Honey Pig Bread, Francesca Ekwuyasi |