Book Bonanza
Last Thursday in front of a large gathering in the Faculty Club, Ian Whyte averred his passion for books. “Personally, I love books. I read anything and everything, and, being an academic librarian, that’s probably a good thing,” declared Whyte, U of T Mississauga’s Chief Librarian. With this intro he helped to kick off UTM’s inaugural Celebration of Books.
Whyte, along with Bryan Stewart, UTM’s Vice-Principal, Research, co-hosted the event that feted 23 researchers from the campus who have published a book between 2012-14. Eleven of those authors were able to come out to the event to share their work.
In his opening remarks, Stewart stated the importance of books for researchers in particular disciplines, and that the book launch aims to recognize their efforts.
“We wanted to provide the authors with an opportunity to tell everyone a little bit about their book and hear them speak about their respective research interests,” remarked Stewart. “We wanted to get a sense of what these terrific scholars are working on.”
The books presented were equally diverse and covered research in all subject matters, ranging from literacy, French Canadian women and Shakespeare, to neoliberalism, ethics and the locavore movement. The works also took the audience on a journey to far-flung regions that included South India, Italy, Spain and England.
The event concluded on quite an engaging and evocative note, with Governor General-Award winning poet, Professor Richard Greene from English & Drama, reading the titular poem from his book, Dante’s House, which draws on his experiences with teaching one summer in Siena, Italy, and that city’s famous horserace, Il Palio.
The words from Whyte’s introduction rang true with the reading of this perfect poem.
“You, the authors, scholars, researchers, and others who make sacrifices in your lives to write books and other scholarly works create an invaluable legacy of knowledge, wisdom and experience for all of us,” said Whyte. “You inspire us with your ideas.”