An award-winning first novel about the Underground Railroad has been chosen as the title for this year’s Chatham-Kent Public Library’s 2024 CK Reads program.
Written by Afro-Canadian writer Kai Thomas, “In the Upper Country” tells a story that sweeps along the path of the Underground Railroad from Virginia to Michigan. The Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region are featured, along with the Black refugee communities of Canada.
According to Penguin Random House Canada, the book weaves together unlikely tales of love, survival and family upheaval, mapping together the interconnected history of the peoples of North America in an “entirely new and resonant way.”
“In the Upper Country” recently won the Atwood Gibson Writers Trust Award and was shortlisted for both the Governor General’s Fiction Award and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award
CK Reads is Chatham-Kent’s largest community book club where everyone in the community is invited to read the same book. Through discussions and programs, CK Reads hopes to bring the community closer through a shared love of reading.
CK Reads is now in its eighth year. This 2024 program is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Chatham.
Thomas is a writer, carpenter and land steward. He lives in Ottawa, descended from Trinidad and the British Isles. Thomas will visit Chatham-Kent when the program concludes at the end of April.
To find out more about 2024 CK Reads initiative or to reserve a copy of the book, call the library or visit ckreads.ca.
