The UCC College Novel Program is funded through the
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
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UCC STUDENT COLLEGE NOVEL CONTEST
Spring 2008
~ Deadline April 30, 2008 ~
A Long Way Gone
PRIZES
1 - $250 award (1st place)
1 - $100 award (2nd place)
1 - $50 awards (3rd place)
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2007 - 2008
UCC College Novel Program Selection
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
ISBN 978-0-374-10523-5
By overwhelming majority vote, the College Novel for 2007-08 will be A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. This is something of a departure from the recent choices in the College Novel program, as it is a memoir rather than a work of fiction. The story is about Beah’s experience as a child soldier in the civil war in Sierra Leone from 1993-1996. There is an excerpt from The New York Times in January at this link. Other links of interest can be found at the following:
http://www.alongwaygone.com/index.html, the official website for the novel
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation website http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2000/08/00_beah_good-bad.htm
Powell’s Books http://www.powells.com/interviews/ishmaelbeah.html
Reading Group Guides.com http://readinggroupguides.com/guides3/long_way_gone1.asp
We are particularly happy about this selection because it fits in well with the theme of the Overcoming Hatred/Creating Community program for 2007-08 (more on that to come soon).
Anyone interested in leading a discussion or participating in a workshop on A Long Way Gone should let me know as soon as possible so we can begin to create a program of events for 2007-08. We are also planning to create a student blog on the College Novel, as well as an online discussion for faculty and staff. There is a lot more to come about this fascinating memoir, and we look forward to the campus discussions and events over the next academic year.
Thanks to everyone who voted; stay tuned for more information.
Susannah Chewning
Chair, College Novel Committee
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UCC Blog for A Long Way Gone
http://longwaygone2.blogspot.com
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