Go Big Read Book Discussion

media release: Wednesday, September 28, 7 p.m., and Thursday, September 29, 1 p.m., Sequoya Library.

Book Discussion Kits for UW-Madison’s Go Big Read 2022-23 selection, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith, are now available at Madison Public Library.

A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country’s most essential stories are hidden in plain view — in places we might drive by on

our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women and children has been deeply imprinted.

Informed by scholarship and brought to life by the story of people living today, Smith’s debut work of nonfiction is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country, and how it has come to be.

You’re invited to take part in any of the library’s scheduled book discussions.