Traveling Storytellers

There are books we just can’t forget. The words get under our skin. They change us. Or they change our idea of what books can be. Therefore, we return to them, again and again. That’s the idea behind “Faculty Favorites,” an English Department event series created to spark conversation between faculty members and the audience about the love of reading and books.

On a recent cold winter night, more than 30 people trekked to Art Reach of Mid Michigan to hear English professors Nate Smith and Mark Freed in conversation about favorite books of theirs. Smith shared a few of his favorite tales from the 24 stories in Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14^th century book The Canterbury Tales, and read them in the original Middle English, to give audience members the authentic voice of these many tales written by travelers. Freed discussed Italo Calvino’s The Castle of Crossed Destinies, a fascinating and groundbreaking novel that employs tarot cards to do the storytelling.

“One of the ideas behind the 'Faculty Favorites' event was not only to showcase some interesting texts, but also to elaborate the various kinds of investments in literature that motivate reading," said Freed. "What I find spectacular about Calvino’s fiction is the ways it re-invents narrative and in so doing expands the very meaning of 'literature.'"

Dominic Tatrai, a first year candidate of the MA in Creative Writing program from Roscommon attended the "Faculty Favorites" event because he wanted to know why certain pieces of literature impact scholars enough to become "favorites."

“My favorite part of the event was the concluding discussion which centered on how these two different texts connected in the wider world of literature," said Tatrai. "Also, hearing Middle English was great.”

Grosse Pointe Woods Junior Bee Bielak, a Secondary English Education major, noticed how, even hundreds of years apart, both books shared similarities in the way travelers told the stories.

“I attended the 'Faculty Favorites' event because I love hearing literature professors discussing their specialties within the Literature world,” said Bielak. “I enjoyed hearing Dr. Freed and Dr. Smith chat back and forth about the books they presented and the parallels that could be drawn between them.”

Guests were treated to complimentary refreshments courtesy of the English Department, and Sleepy Dog Books owner Riley Justis was on hand to sell copies of that evening’s books under discussion.

“As faculty members delved into the foundational significance of storytelling,” Justis said, “I was struck by how each approached their author’s work through the lens of narrative as a means to capture life's complexity and beauty. Through the tales of travelers from two distinct works, the audience experienced different perspectives on the artful construction of a story across history.”

“Faculty Favorites” will return next Fall, with a conversation between Dr. Nicole Barco and Dr. Gretchen Papazian discussing their favorite books. Stay tuned to the English Department website for details about upcoming events.