The Ohio Center for the Book is pleased to collaborate with Ursuline College, Case Western Reserve University, and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards in hosting a series of book discussions. The Spring 2025 series will focus on memoirs by three Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winners: Natasha Trethewey, Isabel Allende, and John Edgar Wideman.
Hosted by Dr. Valentino Zullo, Anisfield-Wolf Postdoctoral Fellow in English and Public Humanities at Ursuline College, and Dr. Jamie Hickner, Lecturer and Anisfield-Wolf Fellow in the English Department at Case Western Reserve University. All discussions are open to the public and take place at the Cleveland Public Library’s NEW Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch, 10601 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland.
Wednesday, 4/16, 4:00-5:45 PM – Isabel Allende’s Paula (1995)
Paula is a soul-baring memoir that, like a novel of suspense, one reads without drawing a breath. In December 1991, Isabel Allende’s daughter Paula became gravely ill and shortly thereafter fell into a coma. During months in the hospital, the author began to write the story of her family for her unconscious daughter. In the telling, bizarre ancestors appear before our eyes; we hear both delightful and bitter childhood memories, amazing anecdotes of youthful years, the most intimate secrets passed along in whispers. Chile, Allende’s native land, comes alive as well, with the turbulent history of the military coup of 1973, the ensuing dictatorship, and her family’s years of exile. This magical book carries the reader from tears to laughter, from terror to sensuality and wisdom. – HarperCollins