One Book One Niagara is back again this year, and available to public library members across the Niagara Region.
The initiative encourages residents to all read the same book and then eventually have a giant ‘book-club’ style meeting at the end. As part of this, the selected book for the year is available at 13 libraries throughout the Niagara Region, to encourage everyone to take part without having to travel far to find the book themselves.
Communications Associate with the Niagara Falls Public Library Kaley Stewart says One Book One Niagara was a hit last year.
Kai Thomas.
This year, Niagara libraries have selected the novel In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas. Thomas and his debut, award winning novel will be featured at the 2024 OBON event. Kai Thomas is a writer, carpenter, land steward, Afro-Canadian, and born and raised in Ottawa, descended from Trinidad and the British Isles.
In the Upper Country is a historical fiction novel set in mid-18th century southwestern Ontario that weaves together the story of two women who are thrown together after one of them, having recently arrived in town via the Underground Railroad, shoots a slave hunter. It’s a national bestseller, won the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Governor General’s Award for Fiction and 2023 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.
Stewart says the process of selecting a book is thorough, as they’re often looking at a number of factors.
Thomas will be speaking at the One Book One Niagara event next Tuesday evening at Welland Centennial High School, free tickets can be claimed here. At the conclusion of the Q&A, Thomas will be signing books – while Thistle Bookshop and Cafe will be on site to sell books for those who wish to buy a copy of their own.
Participants of One Book One Niagara 2023, with author Ivan Coyote.
The One Book One Niagara initiative is in collaboration with eleven public and two academic libraries: Brock University Library, Fort Erie Public Library, Grimsby Public Library, Lincoln Pelham Public Library, Niagara College Library, Niagara Falls Public Library, Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library, Port Colborne Public Library, St. Catharines Public Library, Thorold Public Library, Wainfleet Township Public Library, Welland Public Library, and West Lincoln Public Library.
(Written by: Matt Latour)
