Literati hosted, Eco book club turned 10 this year, started in 2015 by Allison Swan, Ecoliturature enthusiast and teacher.
“It’s definitely been a labor of love,” said Swan. “I am a book lover and a bookstore lover. Part of the inspiration was really supporting books, authors and readers.”
Hosted monthly at Ann Arbor’s Literati Bookstore, the club is centered around Environmental Literature, striving to create a unique promotion of literature that centers on growth and solutions to our environmental predicament. With 14 years of experience teaching Eco Literature and Environmental Literature at Western Michigan University, Swan shares, “I’ve long [since] abandoned the idea of reading books that amplify the idea of doom, and I’ve read many books that begin with a soul-crushing couple of chapters that cover everything that’s wrong.”
The Club’s book choices reflect these goals, and while the pure range of Environmental literature cannot be represented, the focus is on books that uplift readers and group members.
RELATED: Retired Cop’s Book About 40-Year-Old Case Still Hits Home
“I would say anything that leaves the reader with a sense of possibility, I think the very best tool we have in our toolbox right now is imagination—it doesn’t mean in terms of making up wild fantasies, I mean in terms of making a future we all want,” Swan said.
She elaborates hope for the kind of space the Eco Book Club will exist as, a gathering space for people to learn, but not despair about the environmental issues.
“We know everything that we need to know to tackle the problems that we need to face,” Swan said.
While there is no upcoming meeting for December, the Eco book club will resume in January with “Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden” by Camille Dungy.
“It’s called a club, but you don’t have to be a member; every meeting is a mix of brand-new people and returning members,” said Swan.
