Aiken’s Wild Read

The Aiken Women’s Club, in partnership with numerous other organizations in Aiken County, will present a month-long community reading event in October 2011 using Jack London’s classic novel The Call of the Wild. “Aiken’s Wild Read” will present a variety of public events throughout the month, including a lecture by noted London biographer Dr. Jeanne Campbell Reesman on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. SC Humanities supported this project through a Mini Grant in July 2011.

Aiken’s Wild Read is designed to highlight the importance of literature and to encourage reading in the community, especially for lapsed or reluctant readers. Events of all types will take place during the month of October, including book discussions at public libraries, exhibits and object displays at local businesses, dramatizations, oral readings, a photo contest, and more. Additional information can be found on the website: http://aikenwomansclub.org/events/wild-read/.

The presentation by Dr. Jeanne Campbell Reesman will take place on Friday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the Etherredge Center at USC Aiken. Reesman is the Director of the Ph.D in English program and Professor of English at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is the author of Jack London’s Racial Lives; Jack London: A Study of the Short Fiction; and Jack London, Revised Edition (with Earle Labor). During her stay in Aiken, Reesman will also present at Midland Valley High School as well as to students at USC Aiken.

The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. SC Humanities programs and initiatives are balanced, reflecting sensitivity to the diversity of ideas, encourage open dialogue, demonstrate integrity, and are ethical in operations.