Let's Talk About It with Maine Humanities Council

The Maine Humanities Council (MHC) is a great partner of Maine’s public libraries. In our case, the Council has hosted pod cast recordings of many PPL programs at the MHC Humanities on Demand site. The Council has also supported the purchase of equipment to enhance the new program space set to open in the April 2010. One on the most widely known MHC programs is the Let’s Talk About It series. It has been held countless times over many years at public libraries all over the state. PPL has hosted discussions on the Middle East, contemporary American Indian writers and women’s stories from cultures around the world.



This fall, we will hold a series of Let’s talk About It book discussions on five Japanese novels entitled “Family and Self: Readings in 20th Century Japanese Fiction. These 20th-century novels show the importance of the place of family in Japan, the importation of certain Western ideas, and the strain modernization placed upon tradition. How do Japanese novelists depict the family, as a nurturing institution or hierarchical unit? How do they chronicle changes over time? Are Japanese families different from families in the West? What happens to people outside the family unit?

Facilitated by Pat Parker, the discussions are held at the Main Library on Monument Square from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on the following Tuesdays:

The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi -- Sept. 8
The Makioka Sisters by Junichirô Tanizaki -- Sept. 29
The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai -- Oct. 13
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburô Ôe -- Oct. 27
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto -- Nov. 10

The discussion series is free and open to the public and books are available for loan from the Library. However, space is limited so registration is required. To register or for more information, please contact the Library at 871-1700x725 or reference@portland.lib.me.us.

Pat Parker, the series facilitator, has a Ph.D. from New York University and taught American literature at Salem State College, Salem, Massachusetts for many years. She has also taught American literature and English as a second language in Korea for one year and in Japan for over ten years. She has traveled extensively in Asia. In Japan she became interested in Japanese literature, especially novels by women, and began studying and writing about them. She retired in 2004 and moved to Maine. She lives in Falmouth with her (American) husband who also taught over 20 years in Japan.