ISSUED: 16 February 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — In recognition of its “Dear Martin Book Club” initiative, Shepherd’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta English honor society has been awarded a $100 Regents’ Common Reader Award from the national organization for organizing and hosting a local event or activity around the national organization’s 2022 Common Reader book “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone.
Shepherd’s chapter purchased four copies of “Dear Martin,” in which a current-day Black student writes letters to Martin Luther King, Jr. as he wrestles with injustice, inequality, and growing up. Students and faculty in the Department of English and Modern Languages have volunteered to read the book. They will pass the copies from one person to the next. After reading the book, each volunteer will write a short letter sharing their reflections on the novel, a tribute to the book’s epistolary structure.
The book club will gather in April for an in-person discussion of the book and the letters that each reader has written in an effort to engage in meaningful reading, writing, dialogue, and community building.
In her letter notifying Shepherd’s chapter of the award, Felicia Steele, representing the national organization, noted, “As usual, Shepherd is providing a model for other Sigma Tau Delta chapters around the region and country.”
Currently, about a dozen students and faculty have signed up to read the four books. More will participate as the books are passed along. Anyone is welcome to acquire “Dear Martin” and take part.
For more information, contact Dr. Heidi Hanrahan, professor of English, at Heidi Hanrahan hhanraha@shepherd.edu.
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