Book Club Conversation –9:30 – 10:45, Deets Room
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
This conversation will be facilitated by Glenda O’Brien and Lou Howell. If interested, please sign up here. Consider bringing a friend!
If you need assistance in procuring the book, contact Lou Howell at LouHowell@gmail.com or 515-229-4781.
About: Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan’s landmark new novel, a tale of one man’s courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family.
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
An international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.
Awards:
Oprah’s Book Club Pick 2024 * New York Times Book Club Pick 2024 * Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Cillian Murphy * A New York Times Bestseller * Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize * Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction * One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century * The Irish Times Best Book of the 21st Century
Annual Meeting, 11:00 AM
Luncheon, 12:00 PM Sunflower Chef
Club Program, 1:00 PM
Kelsie Bigelow is a poet and speaker based in Des Moines. She spends her time working as a mental health poet sharing this therapeutic tool with audiences of all ages across the world. She is the author of five poetry projects, including her book "Far From Broken." Her work is published with several small presses and journals. Kelsey is a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2023 Button Poetry Video Contest Finalist, and a 2023 Central Avenue Poetry Prize finalist. As a performer, Kelsey has worked with organizations such as The Mayo Clinic, NAMI, Planned Parenthood, and more. Videos of her work can be found on Button Poetry, Write About Now, Ghost Poetry Show, and elsewhere.
She's the founder of the Des Moines Poetry Workshop, the chair for the Iowa Poetry Association Poetry Slam, a teaching artist in the Des Moines community, the director for the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam, and a founding member of the io-what poetry slam team.