BIG READ Program - Dystopia & Hope: Leif Enger's "I Cheerfully Refuse" in a Speculative Context
Schedule
Tue Sep 23 2025 at 05:30 pm to 06:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
316 W. Webster Ave., Muskegon, MI, United States, Michigan 49440 | Muskegon, MI
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Presented by Dr. Rachel Anderson, Professor at GVSURegistration preferred (FREE) – click below to register.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-1vAJf-NDgIYQL3GchARscf1ohbEq5wF2EjTPwHIlntgYFg/viewform
From Sir Thomas More’s publication of his Utopia (1516), literature around a “perfect” society has become a recognized genre.
Its cousin, dystopia, has become even more popular, especially in recent years. Novels like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower, and Susan Collins’ The Hunger Games books show not a perfect society, but a scarily awful one.
These “mirror-image utopias” are often near-future projections that often show how bad choices make worse futures.
In this talk, we’ll discuss the history of utopian/dystopian lit, and look at how Leif Engler’s novel I Cheerfully Refuse fits into and challenges the genre.
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Bio: Rachel Anderson is a Professor of English at Grand Valley State University. She teaches courses in British literature (especially Shakespeare), contemporary drama, and science fiction. She also teaches courses in GVSU’s Digital Studies program on social media and digital ethics. Her most recent publication is “‘I Don’t Want to Be Human’: The Neurodivergent Reader Response to Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries Series” and she’s very much enjoying the AppleTV+ adaptation of Murderbot!
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This program is part of BIG READ. What is Big Read?
BIG READ is a communities-wide initiative in West Michigan to encourage conversations, creativity, and connections through amazing books - a Big Read, a Middle Read, a Little Read, and a Mini Read. Several organizations host programs inspired by these books. We invite you to not only read these titles, but to enjoy programming inspired by them, at various locations throughout West Michigan!
Take a peek at HPL's online events calendar for more Big Read programs!
Big Read: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
Middle Read: A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat
Little Read: Journey by Aaron Becker
Mini Read: Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Annie Kubler and Sarah Dellow
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Where is it happening?
316 W. Webster Ave., Muskegon, MI, United States, Michigan 49440Event Location & Nearby Stays:
