Dance and author conference to complete the One Book One Aurora 2022 program

During 2022, Aurora book lovers enjoyed Swimming Back to Trout River, the debut novel by Linda Rui Feng.

The story follows five-year-old Junie in the wake of China’s Cultural Revolution.

Taking readers from the present to the past and back, the evocative story sparked community-wide dialogue, with events ranging from an evening with Jan Wong, live performances in the living room space of library, writing and photography contests, workshops and more.

Now, the program is set to culminate this month with new cultural performances and a virtual event with the author herself.

“The Cultural Revolution is the backdrop to the novel and to the fall programming [at the end of September] was An Evening with Jan Wong, award-winning journalist and best-selling author, talking about her experiences in China and her work as a foreign correspondent with China in the late 1980s and early 1990s,” said Reccia Mandelcorn , Community Collaboration Lead for the Aurora. Public Library, which also runs the One Book One Aurora (OBOA) campaign.

“It was fascinating to hear what it was like to witness the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square. She watched from the balcony and heard her perspective on current political relations, including the detention of the two Michaels…the audience was very knowledgeable and they asked some fabulous questions which really sparked an amazing conversation.

Partnerships have been “essential” to the OBOA campaign, she said, and one of those key partnerships was with the York Chamber Ensemble, which performed earlier this month at the library with the orchestra and soloist Joyce Lai performing the Butterfly Lovers Concerto.

“Our living room was packed and the audience was completely transformed by the magic of the show,” says Ms. Mandelcorn. “What I loved was seeing all the kids, many of whom were enjoying their first experience of classical music. There was a little boy dancing under the stairs. Who would expect someone to dance to a classic show? »

The story continues

When you invite a community to follow a common literary path, perhaps the unexpected is all you can expect as each reader will have a different takeaway from what’s on the page.

“Going Back to Trout River offered rich programming opportunities with its themes of politics, immigration, family and music,” says Ms. Mandelcorn, adding that programming will continue this Saturday, October 15 with The Art of Chinese Dance. , performed by The Mellow Sisters & Tian Shu Art Group, a nonprofit arts group that supports Chinese culture and promotes multiculturalism, with this ensemble of artists sharing cultural experience through dance and song.

The One Book One Aurora 2022 campaign will end next Saturday, October 22, with a virtual Q&A session with Rui Feng on Zoom. The conference should start at 2 p.m.

“Guests will meet the author and gain fascinating insight into the events that shaped this powerful book,” says Ms. Mandelcorn. “Come online and meet Linda. She’s fascinating, she’s an academic, a storyteller, a novelist, and to talk about the book…I know a lot of people are looking forward to meeting her because they loved this book, but I think it will be an experience for people who haven’t read the book, because they will come away with something positive.

And, ultimately, that’s what it’s all about: leaving a positive legacy and always keeping an eye out for books that might continue to unite the community through the written word.

“The OBOA project is supported by the library, but owned by the community and every year we invite book clubs to sign up to receive copies of the book to discuss at their meetings and what was really exciting this year , is the number of book clubs. has grown from a couple when we started to nine this year, and each has between five and 25 members. This does not include occasional book clubs, but book clubs. reading tapes that read. It was very exciting.

“This year’s selection, Going Back to Trout River, offered rich programming opportunities with its themes of politics, immigration, family, music. If anyone has a big title in mind for next year’s selection, I hope [the community] will contact me at rmandelcorn@aurorapl.ca. Authors must be within travel distance of Aurora. We hope to return to an in-person format next year. The book should have themes that we can build on to broaden the reading experience through programs and contests. I’m looking for ideas.

For more information on this weekend’s performances, to register for next Saturday’s reading conference, or to participate in ongoing virtual programming, visit onebookoneaurora.com.

Brock Weir, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, The Auroran