The CCC book club returns to give students a chance to come together over literature.
The Community Care Centre (CCC) relaunched From the Margins book club post-pandemic on Oct. 19.
The book club was, and will continue to be, held in a hybrid setting with both in-person and virtual participants joining to discuss the book If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur.
“We’ve been able to decorate the space to reflect that kind of coziness in the space and also for accessibility purposes, giving people the option to be virtual,” said Poonam Sahota, full-time support staff with CCC and facilitator for the book club on Oct. 19.
The club is born out of the need to encourage the work of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) writers and creators. CCC aims to allow participants to appreciate and explore these artists and their works that are usually underrepresented.
Sahota said, “The vision behind this book club is to share diverse authors and stories with George Brown students and community, especially because traditionally in publishing, there is very little diversity… we emphasize BIPOC authors for students to get access to stories with characters that reflect their lived experiences.”
The book for October was about an immigrant mother, Kiran, who escapes the trauma she faced in India to live undocumented in Canada and raise her daughter as a single mother.
The book showcases troubles faced by survivors of sexual abuse and immigrants. It also takes us on a journey with Kiran’s daughter, Sahaara, who is trying to find herself while doing her best to support her mother.
The book club discussed the importance of community, power and exploitation, and barriers to international students among other topics, all of which were a part of the book.
“It’s just been one month, and I am not able to make more friends… when I’m alone here I feel very lonely. But attending such an event, I realised that talking to more people, interacting, will make me feel better, and like I can create a family here,” Rudraa Khatvase, an international student who recently moved to Canada shared.”
The book club is facilitated by different hosts each month who tailor the discussions to suit the group. The book picks are made by a different staff member such that equity and diversity is reflected.
Charlene Holmes, coordinator with the Community Care Centre, looks forward to more successful book club meetings this year. Photo by: Ayeshwini Lama
“I really admire how the author put so many events into the book, and it was only one person’s life. I could relate to the book; I find myself having a hard time expressing my feelings in words so I kind of like hide it inside me. The book kind of describes everything I have that I don’t even know I have,” said Tran Nyugen.
From the Margins is a low barrier book club and allows its participants to read the material at their own pace: they can either finish the entire book before the meeting or read it partially.
The upcoming book club on Nov. 9 will feature CCC’s LGBTQ+ staff pick ‘The World that belongs to Us’ by Aditi Angiras and Akhil Katyal.
Students can sign up for the November and December book clubs and pick up their free copies.
For more details visit https://linktr.ee/CommunityCareCentre.
