The final discussion session of Beloved will be led by Tameka Cage Conley.
"In a time when dreams might feel distant, I count it 'sheer, good fortune'—a Morrisonian quote from Sula--to return to Iowa City, which remains home to me, and join DK Nnuro for the final discussion of Beloved, a novel that has been seared into my consciousness and all meaning of life for over thirty years. A homecoming of enormous import, we will step into the mercy and splendor of Morrison's language—its gifts and rivers—and tilt the world then set it upright again through Beloved's awe-inspiring galaxy of kin, freedom, horror, and redemption." ~ Dr. Tameka Cage Conley
Conley and Nnuro will open with the question of Beloved's existence as an entry into discussion about the proverbial ghost lurking in America's historical closet. No one expected Beloved's return, not even her mother, Sethe, whose plan was to kill all her children and see her "ma'am," (mother,) on the other side. Beloved willed her way back to her mother—to haunt her, to end her, to love her with all her greed. How has America, too, "played in the dark," to quote Morrison, of its own ghosts and shadows and ghouls? Perhaps we cannot understand the mystery of Beloved until we also understand the mysteries of America as a place, the parts of it, especially, we pretend do not exist, the parts we have the audacity to believe are dead.
Join us for four discussions of Toni Morrison's Beloved and the exhibition it's a fine thing, led by the Stanley’s curator of special projects and author of What Napoleon Could Not Do, Derek (DK) Nnuro.
Register for each session by clicking the dates below, capped at 30 participants:
Iowa City is one of 62 communities nationwide participating in the 2023-2024 NEA Big Read. From February to May, our community will celebrate Beloved by Toni Morrison with a full calendar of events.
The NEA Big Read in Iowa City is presented in partnership with the Stanley Museum of Art, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This initiative is tied to the exhibition at the Stanley, it’s a fine thing, opening on Feb. 13, 2025.
More about NEA Big Read: https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/nea-big-read
More about Beloved by Toni Morrison: https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/nea-big-read/beloved