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Jesuit Father Uwem Akpan, author of Say You’re One of Them, the current Oprah’s Book Club selection, will visit five Jesuit colleges and universities across the country to discuss his book, the intersection of spirituality and art, and his life as a Jesuit priest and author. Fr. Akpan’s talks, which will include a reading from his collection of short stories that were recently #1 on the New York Times list for fiction, will be free and open to the public, and will be held on the campuses of Loyola University Chicago, Boston College, Georgetown University, University of San Francisco and Loyola Marymount University.

Father Akpan’s appearances at Jesuit schools across the country will take place shortly after his participation in a live, in-depth discussion about his book with Oprah Winfrey and Anderson Cooper that will be simulcast on Oprah.com and CNN.com. Details of the event, which will take place on Monday, November 9, at 9 p.m. EST, can be found at www.oprah.com/bookclub. RSVP in advance of Monday night’s live web event by visiting the Oprah.com website.

Book Tour Schedule

Two additional free and open-to-the-public book events will be taking place with Father Akpan in New York and Philadelphia. On Wednesday, November 11, at 4:30p.m., the New York Theological Seminary will be hosting a reading at their Interfaith Center, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. On Tuesday, November 17, at 7:30 p.m., Father Akpan will speak along with author and fellow Oprah Book Club^® author, David Wroblewski at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Montgomery Auditorium, 1901 Vine St., Philadelphia, Pa.

Below is a recent CNN.com video with Jesuit Father Uwem Akpan from Nigeria:  

About the Book – Say You’re One of Them

In Say You’re One of Them, published in September 2009, each story in this jubilantly acclaimed collection pays testament to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances. A family living in a makeshift shanty in urban Kenya scurries to find gifts of any kind for the impending Christmas holiday. A Rwandan girl relates her family’s struggles to maintain a facade of normalcy amid unspeakable acts. A young brother and sister cope with their uncle’s attempt to sell them into slavery. Aboard a bus filled with refugees—a microcosm of today’s Africa—a Muslim boy summons his faith to bear a treacherous ride across Nigeria. Through the eyes of childhood friends the emotional toll of religious conflict in Ethiopia becomes viscerally clear.

About the Author – Jesuit Father Uwem Akpan

Uwem Akpan, S.J., was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in southern Nigeria. After studying philosophy and English at Creighton and Gonzaga universities, he studied theology for three years at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2003 and received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 2006. “My Parents’ Bedroom,” a story from his short story collection, Say You’re One of Them, was one of five short stories by African writers chosen as finalists for The Caine Prize for African Writing 2007.

Stephen Quigley, Chairman of NY Regional Council of IVC, Fr. Jim Martin and Liz McMahon, NY Regional Director

The New York/New Jersey region of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps presented its third annual Della Strada award on October 22, 2009 to Jesuit Father James Martin. 

The Della Strada award takes its name from the church that Ignatius Loyola and the early Jesuits in Rome established to serve the urban poor. This award honors those whose work and lives reflect the Ignatian values of direct service to the poor, and of working and educating for a more just society. 

Fr. Martin truly embodies these values – through his current position as the Culture Editor for America Magazine, the national Jesuit weekly, as well as his books, articles, presentations, workshops and media appearances, and his prior work in a Jamaican Mission, with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Kenya, with street gangs in Chicago, and at the Nativity Mission School in New York.

Prior recipients of the Della Strada award include Fr. Joseph Parkes, President of the Cristo Rey High School in New York, and Fr. Joseph O’Hare, former President of Fordham University and past editor of America Magazine.

The Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) provides men and women, aged 50 and greater, opportunities to serve others, to address social injustice, and to transform lives. IVC matches the talents of capable Volunteers with the greatest social needs of our time through partnerships with hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the United States.

Stephen Quigley, Chairman of NY Regional Council of IVC, Fr. Jim Martin and Liz McMahon, NY Regional Director

The New York/New Jersey region of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps presented its third annual Della Strada award on October 22, 2009 to Jesuit Father James Martin. 

The Della Strada award takes its name from the church that Ignatius Loyola and the early Jesuits in Rome established to serve the urban poor. This award honors those whose work and lives reflect the Ignatian values of direct service to the poor, and of working and educating for a more just society. 

Fr. Martin truly embodies these values – through his current position as the Culture Editor for America Magazine, the national Jesuit weekly, as well as his books, articles, presentations, workshops and media appearances, and his prior work in a Jamaican Mission, with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Kenya, with street gangs in Chicago, and at the Nativity Mission School in New York.

Prior recipients of the Della Strada award include Fr. Joseph Parkes, President of the Cristo Rey High School in New York, and Fr. Joseph O’Hare, former President of Fordham University and past editor of America Magazine.

The Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) provides men and women, aged 50 and greater, opportunities to serve others, to address social injustice, and to transform lives. IVC matches the talents of capable Volunteers with the greatest social needs of our time through partnerships with hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the United States.

Jesuit Father Uwen Akpan, SJ’s short story collection, “Say You’re One of Them” is the next pick for Oprah’s book club. It will be announced today on her show.

His five short stories are each set in a different African country. Children play major roles in the stories, which tackle the toughest of topics –  child slavery, rioting and genocide. When the book was published last year it was widely praised by book reviewers but the book’s success up until now is nothing compared with what is likely to be unleashed later this afternoon. Yesterday the book was #165,769 on Amazon.com’s sales rankings, by 10 p.m. last night it had risen to #2,151 and #18 by this afternoon.

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