CHQ Book Read
About
The YWCA of Jamestown and Chautauqua Institution are pleased to
announce the third year of the county-wide initiative – The
Chautauqua County Book Read. We invite all Chautauqua County
residents to participate in this book read. We have selected “Apple: Skin to Core" by Eric Gansworth as our common read book.
The purpose of this shared book read is to engage Chautauqua County
residents, businesses, nonprofits and organizations to help heal our
divides and propel participants to be engaged citizens working
towards a more inclusive and just society.
Those interested in participating are invited to register via this link. Each participant is also encouraged to attend one book discussion group between April 15 - 26, 2024. In-person and online book discussion groups will be offered. Information on the times and locations of the book discussions is available via the registration link below:
Additionally, participants are invited to attend a live lecture on Thursday, August 1st with the author, Eric Gansworth, at 3:30pm at the Hall of Philosophy on the Chautauqua Institution grounds. This day has been designated as “Chautauqua County Day” at the Institution, and all Chautauqua County residents are eligible for free admission and parking. Information on how to order complimentary gate and parking passes for this event will be posted in the coming weeks at chqcounty.chq.org.
The YWCA of Jamestown and Chautauqua Institution are serving as lead organizations for this initiative. We are pleased to announce that this program is part of a community-wide effort. Please look for more information about participating at one of our partner organizations:
We encourage participants to purchase their own copy of the book, if possible. Please note that many of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System libraries already have a limited supply of this book. If you represent an organization that would like to support this effort, please reach out to the contacts listed below.
For more information, please contact:
Amanda Gesing, Executive Director, YWCA of Jamestown (agesing@ywcajamestown.com)
Amit Taneja, Senior VP & Chief IDEA Officer, Chautauqua Institution (ataneja@chq.org)
Danica Olson, Project Coordinator, CHQ Book Read (chqbookread@ywcajamestown.com)
Our Sponsors:
Our Partners:
More About the Author
Eric Gansworth (Sˑha-weñ na-saeˀ), is a member of Eel clan, enrolled Onondaga, born and raised at the Tuscarora Nation. A writer and visual artist, he has published a dozen books, including the novels, Mending Skins (Pen Oakland Award) and Extra Indians (American Book Award, NAISA Book of the Year), the young adult novels, If I Ever Get Out of Here (Honor Award, American Indian Youth Literary Award; One Book, One Philadelphia 2020) and Give Me Some Truth (Whippoorwill Award). He has recorded audiobooks for recent books. His collection of poems and paintings, A Half-Life of Cardio-Pulmonary Function, was selected for the NBCC Good Reads List. His newest book, Apple (Skin to the Core), a memoir-in-verse and images, was longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award. His first play, Re-Creation Story, was selected for the Public Theater’s Second Annual Native Theater Festival. He is a Professor of English and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. As a visual artist, he has had solo exhibitions at the Castellani Museum, Colgate University, Westfield State University, SUNY Oneonta and Bright Hill Center. His work has appeared in the journals The Kenyon Review, POETRY, The Cream City Review, The Boston Review, Provincetown Arts, Shenandoah, Third Coast, and Many Mountains Moving, among other journals and has been widely anthologized.
Gansworth’s work also has been supported by the Library of Congress, the National Book Critics Circle, the Saltonstall Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the Arne Nixon Center, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Seaside Institute among other institutions. He was NEH Distinguished Visiting Professor at Colgate University. He has also recently been selected for inclusion in LIT CITY, a public arts project celebrating Buffalo’s Literary Legacy.
