Newsroom
News at the University of New Brunswick

The next Lorenzo Virtual Book Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. (ADT) and will feature Carla Gunn, a professor at the University of New Brunswick, discussing her novel, Amphibian.

In Amphibian, nine-year-old Phineas William Walsh has an encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world and he is the narrator. As Quill & Quire wrote, “[He]… is the kind of kid who could only be described as ‘sensitive.’ Hours spent watching documentaries on the Green Channel have left him better informed than most adults about pollution, the plight of animals being robbed of their habitats, and the burden humans have placed on our rapidly decaying Earth. And he’s suffering for it.”

This book was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (Canada and Caribbean region); shortlisted for the 2011 Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award; A Globe and Mail Top Five First Fiction Title of 2009; and a National Post Best Books of 2009 selection.

The Lorenzo Virtual Book Club will be a moderated discussion with 12-15 registrants. The conversation will take place on Microsoft Teams and will later be featured in a Facebook Watch party. Important to note is that the registrants can be individuals, book clubs, or groups of friends who have bubbled. Participants can be from Saint John, other communities in New Brunswick, other parts of Canada and beyond!

The Lorenzo Reading Series acknowledges the support of The League of Canadian Poets, the New Brunswick Literary Promotion Program, UNB Saint John and its private reading sponsors.

SPOILER ALERT: The discussion assumes that every participant has read the book prior to the event. Participants should be prepared to hear plot twists and, potentially, the ending.

For more information email lorenzo@unb.ca.