Maine Humanities Council Discussion Project 2024

Shadows of the Future:
A Century of Dystopian Fiction

Choose from two cohorts:

Cohort 1 meets on the following Thursdays from 5:00–6:30 p.m.:
March 28, April 18, May 23
Cohort 2 meets on the following Saturdays from 10:30 a.m.–noon:
March 30, April 27, May 18

We are thrilled to welcome the Maine Humanities Council back for its seventh year at BHML! The Maine Humanities Council Discussion Project is a mini book club that will gather monthly from March through May to discuss books revolving around a central theme.

This year’s Discussion Project centers around a century of literary connections in the stories of three science fiction novels. We begin with a translation of the book We by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin (first translated into English in 1924), largely believed to be the inspiration of our second book: George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984. We round out our discussion project with the 2023 novel Julia by Sandra Newman, a modern retelling of Orwell’s 1984.

Reading List:

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

1984 by George Orwell

Julia by Sandra Newman

Registration is required. Register soon as space in the discussion is limited. Please fill out the registration form below or call the library to register (207-633-3112). Registrants must be prepared and able to attend all three book discussions. Discussions will take place in person, in the Great Room.

Meet our facilitator: A native of Maine and resident of Topsham, Larissa Vigue Picard has been Executive Director of Pejepscot History Center since 2015. Formerly, she was Director of Education at Maine Historical Society in Portland and, before returning to Maine in 2010, she worked for seven years at Vermont Humanities Council, where she was Director of Community Programs. Larissa sits on the Maine Historic Records Advisory Board.

Get the books: Each participant will receive their own copy of each title to keep, courtesy of the Maine Humanities Council. Copies will be available for pickup at Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library after you’ve completed your registration.