OCTC Common Reading

Fall 2024: Join us at OCTC this fall for the 20th year anniversary celebration and author visit by Silas House, Kentucky Poet Laureate. All Common Reading events are free and open to the public; they are ALL “Merit Approved” for OCTC students.

The book selection for the Fall 2024 semester is A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House. House is scheduled to visit us Tuesday, October 22, 2024 for a keynote presentation, book reading, and book signing at 12:30 p.m. in Blandford Lecture Hall located in the Humanities Building on OCTC’s Main Campus. No RSVP or reservation required! This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information, please contact kaye.brown@kctcs.edu.

We are also hosting a reception for the 20th Year Anniversary Celebration on the same evening of the day Silas House visits OCTC. This reception begins at 5 p.m. CST with some short remarks from Silas House at 6 p.m. CST; the event concludes at 7 p.m. The Brock McGuire Band will be performing, as well! Please, reserve your spot for this reception! This event is FREE and open to the public, but we do require a prior reservation for all guests so we can best prepare for the get together.

About the Author and the Book

Silas House is the nationally bestselling author of the novels Clay’s Quilt, 2001; A Parchment of Leaves, 2003; The Coal Tattoo, 2005; Eli the Good, 2009; Same Sun Here (co-authored with Neela Vaswani) 2012, Southernmost, 2018; Lark Ascending, 2022; a book of creative nonfiction Something’s Rising (co-authored with Jason Howard); and three plays.

House is a former commentator for NPR’s “All Things Considered.” His writing has appeared recently in Time, The Atlantic, Ecotone, The Advocate, Garden and Gun, and Oxford American. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and is the winner of the Nautilus Award, an EB White Award, the Appalachian Book of the Year, and other honors.

In 2021 he was the recipient of the Governor’s Award for his service to the arts in his home state and is currently the Kentucky Poet Laureate. Most recently, Silas House has been awarded the 2023 Southern Book Prize in Fiction. House serves as the NEH Chair of Appalachian Studies at Berea College and on the fiction faculty at Spalding University in Louisville. He is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and Spalding University. House, a native of Whitley County and Laurel County, Kentucky, now lives in Lexington.

Adapted from: https://authorsundbound.com/silas-house

Other Information

FACEBOOK: To get the most recent updates, pictures, and events through Facebook, please like us on Facebook. Everyone is welcome (you don't have to have a Facebook page to view the page): OCTC Common Reading Facebook

Thank you: Special thanks to the many area donors who are helping us make the Common Reading and other campus initiatives more lasting and vital parts of our community through the NEH Grant efforts.

Note: Often the Common Reading's subject matter is quite complex. An attempt will be made to include a variety of perspectives on related themes or topics. The choice of book and supporting activities or materials are not intended to endorse any particular viewpoint. Please let our committee know if you have suggestions for resources or activities. Thanks!

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

LIBRARY DISPLAY: Each semester the OCTC main campus Library (LRC/LRE building) has a display of materials related to the book, writer, and theme of each Common Reading. Check it out!

LEND & LEAVE BOOKSHELF: In the LRC, upstairs near the art gallery, is a display of books that you may take and keep, take and pass on, or take and return. You may also bring some used books to leave for others.

MISSION STATEMENT: What is the Common Reading?

Each semester a book is selected as OCTC's Common Reading, with the idea that all participants could read the same material and have common ground for new discussions and mutual interests. While the book choices vary in many ways (different genres, time-periods, subject matters), they are chosen to expand the knowledge and perspectives of readers. The background of the selected writers is diverse; however, many Kentucky and regional writers are also included to help us appreciate local talent, acknowledge shared concerns, and celebrate our common heritage. All OCTC students, staff, faculty, and interested community members are invited and encouraged to participate by reading the books and attending the related presentations each semester.