Monday, October 10, 2011
BBC Author Visit -- Warren St. John.
This evening I went to the Mershon Auditorium to listen to the author Warren St. John discuss the book Outcasts United that all of us read for the Buckeye Book Community. Mr. St. John was very engaging and spoke about how it was pure chance that he even heard of the Fugees in the first place. He went on to talk about how he became very intrigued by the subject of refugee resettlement, especially in the town of Clarkston, Georgia which had been a typical small southern town but had since expanded into a small world of many cultures. He met many generous and heartwarming families and listened to the many things they told him. These comments ranged from their cultures and past experiences to stories of mistreatment by police officers. Overall, the visit was very interesting and showed us the author's feelings on Outcasts United.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I too thought Warren St. John was an excellent speaker and his book was a good choice for the incoming freshmen. Most interesting was his behind the scenes stories such as one of the Fugees getting recognized and asked for their autograph. He also spoke on the reaction of the small town to the book, something that was obviously not mentioned in the book. I had never thought of those different kind of perspectives; last night was very eye opening. Most important though was the perspective the book put upon other people. St. John said that if the story had been completely happy, the message behind the story would have not been as powerful. His book shows there is still lots of work to be done in our culture concerning immigration and refugees.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion with Warren St. John was a great way to get to learn more about the people and events within Outcasts United, especially because it allowed us to hear the author's personal perspective on everything within the text. He was a very engaging speaker, and gave some ideas as to how OSU Freshmen can take away lessons learned through the experiences of the fugees to be more successful in transitioning to college life.
ReplyDelete