Great Michigan Read 2021

Residents throughout Michigan are invited to join in reading and discussing “The Women of the Copper Country,” by Mary Doria Russell. The book is a riveting account of 25-year-old Annie Clements as she stood up for the Upper Peninsula miners and their families during the 1913 Calumet copper strikes. The book is Michigan Humanities’ choice for the 2021-22 Great Michigan Read.

The Great Michigan Read aims to connect Michigan residents by deepening readers’ understanding of our state, our society, and our humanity. A statewide panel of teachers, librarians, community leaders, and book lovers selects the Great Michigan Read every two years.

“I’m so honored Michigan Humanities chose ‛The Women of the Copper Country’ for the 2021-2022 Great Michigan Read,” said author Mary Doria Russell, who spent time in Michigan’s Keewenaw Peninsula walking through the streets of Calumet, touring the mines and visiting local museums as she prepared to write her fictionalized account of the real-life Big Annie. “The copper strike itself has been studied and written about by historians and legal experts, but those accounts are not meant to engage the reader’s emotions. That was my job – to combine imagination and empathy with research.”

 

Join us on Wednesday, November 10th from 7:00-8:15 PM to discuss this year’s book selection. Check out a copy or call us to put one on hold for you!