Reading through Race

This workshop will explore issues of race, racism and resistance through the eyes of writers such as James Baldwin, Joy Kogawa, Lawrence Hill, Beth Brant, Joseph Boyden, Mohsin Hamid, Zadie Smith. The novels, which would be read by everyone, would be complemented by a second presentation based on an optional piece of non-fiction -- essay, memoir or even poetry -- that comments on or elaborates some aspect of the treatment of race, racism and resistance in the novel. This non-fiction piece could be either by the novelist or another writer.

Facilitators:

Maureen FitzGerald, m.fitzgerald@utoronto.ca, is an ex-academic and ex-publisher interested in joining and pursuing the current conversations on race, racism and anti-racism.

Sally McLean, is happily grandparenting in Toronto after years in Ottawa and Vancouver. Through her work then and retirement now she is enthusiastic and generally hopeful about issues of social justice.