K-State common book author Cherie Dimaline to give Sept. 23 virtual lecture
Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to hear from Cherie Dimaline — the award-winning author of the K-State 2021 common book "The Marrow Thieves" — during a Sept. 23 virtual lecture.
The lecture, "An Evening with Cherie Dimaline," will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23, through Zoom. Visit the K-State First Book website for the livestream link and connection information. A K-State eID and password are required to view the lecture.
"Everyone is excited to be in the virtual presence of the author," said Tara Coleman, coordinator of the K-State First Book committee and associate professor at K-State Libraries. "I'm glad that our students will have an opportunity to ask her questions and learn more of her thoughts."
"The Marrow Thieves" is an award-winning and bestselling novel that tells the story of a dystopian future where humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming. The protagonist, Frenchie, struggles to survive in a world where the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream.
During the lecture, Dimaline will perform a reading and offer remarks about her creative work and its themes.
Dimaline's lecture is sponsored by K-State First Book, the Student Governing Association Diversity Programming Committee and Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society.
"We're honored to host Cherie Dimaline for this virtual presentation," said Karin Westman, chair of the K-State First Book PR/events committee and department head of English. "We look forward to the insights she will share about her award-winning novel and her work as an author."
K-State First Book, the all-university reading program that is part of K-State First, selects a common book for the academic year and coordinates classroom and campus activities to correspond with the reading. K-State First Book provides incoming students with a shared academic experience that they can discuss with professors, staff, administrators and other students when they arrive on campus.
Other university and community programming partners for the 2021 common book include the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art; the Center for Advocacy, Response and Education, or CARE; the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences; the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, or MANRRS, chapter in the College of Agriculture; the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering; the Department of Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs; the Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections with K-State Libraries; the Staley School of Leadership Studies; the Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance; and USD 383.
The fall semester will include multiple virtual and in-person events that connect with the 2021 book selection. View a full list of events and find more information at k-state.edu/ksfb.
Other events include:
- "Indigenous Presence, Indigenous Futures: From The Marrow Thieves to Rutherford Falls" panel discussion, 4 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 21.
- "Archives and Absence: The Role of the Institutional Archive in Retaining Cultural Memory (Part 1)" lecture, noon, Tuesday, Oct. 5.
- "Archives and Absence: The Role of the Institutional Archive in Retaining Cultural Memory (Part 2)" lecture, noon, Tuesday, Oct. 12. This event is part of KSUnite.
- "A Conversation with CARE: Social Factors Contributing to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women" discussion, 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 18.
- "Archives and Absence: The Role of the Institutional Archive in Retaining Cultural Memory (Part 3)" lecture, noon, Tuesday, Oct. 19.
- "Indigenous Peoples: Past, Present, and Future" lecture, 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 20.
- "The Marrow Thieves" panel discussion, noon, Thursday, Nov. 11.
