News

11th Annual Spokane Is Reading

Author Chris Cleave to Present
-- Featuring “Little Bee” --

(Spokane – May 2012) – Spokane Is Reading welcomes award-winning author Chris Cleave and his gripping book, “Little Bee,” for the 11th Annual Spokane Is Reading event.

Spokane Is Reading, sponsored and organized by Spokane Public Library, Spokane County Library District and Auntie’s Bookstore, hosts two appearances with Mr. Cleave on Friday, October 12, 2012. There is a 1pm show at the Garland Theater and a 7pm show at the Lincoln Center.

This year’s Spokane is Reading selection, “Little Bee,” is a haunting novel about the tenuous friendship that blooms between two disparate strangers--one an illegal Nigerian refugee, the other a recent widow from suburban London. Told using alternating first-person perspectives, both characters reflect on the horrific past events that brought their lives together. Library Journal says, “Best-selling author Cleave effortlessly moves between alternating viewpoints with lucid, poignant prose and the occasional lighter note. A tension-filled dramatic ending and plenty of moral dilemmas add up to a satisfying, emotional read.” Caroline Elkins, from The New York Times calls “Little Bee …immensely readable and moving. Rather than focusing on postcolonial guilt or African angst, Cleave uses his emotionally charged narrative to challenge his readers’ conceptions of civility, of ethical choice.”

Chris Cleave is a columnist for The Guardian newspaper in London. His first novel, “Incendiary,” was published in twenty countries; won the 2006 Somerset Maugham Award; was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize; won the United States Book-of-the-Month Club’s First Fiction Award; and won the Prix Special du Jury at the French Prix des Lecteurs 2007. “Little Bee,” Cleave’s second novel (titled “The Other Hand in the UK”), was shortlisted for the prestigious Costa Award for Best Novel. It is being adapted for a film starring Nicole Kidman. His third novel, “Gold,” is available in June. He lives in London with his family.

Spokane Is Reading is a community read designed to encourage reading throughout the region and is one of the longest-running community reads in the State of Washington. Over the years, it has celebrated such authors as Sherman Alexie, Jess Walter, Laurie R. King and Kent Haruf.

Generous support for Spokane is Reading comes from the various Friends of the Library groups in the City of Spokane and Spokane County.