Reading collectively during a pandemic: A digital Alice Munro book club

Last summer, after postponing an in-person conference about Canadian literature and the digital public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were looking for alternative ways to connect with others who shared our interest in Canadian literature.

Reading collectively during a pandemic: A digital Alice Munro book club

This led us to an idea: to start an online Alice Munro book club with a combination of Munro experts, enthusiasts, and creative writers. 

We began by posting a tweet to gauge interest and, just like that, an online book club—made up of friends and strangers, Munro experts and those who had never read her writing before was formed. 

The book club meets for approximately one hour every Wednesday to discuss a single Alice Munro story. Together, we work our way through one Alice Munro collection at a time—so far, we have read Dear Life and Too Much Happiness, and are currently reading The View from Castle Rock. 

What started as a place to collectively read and discuss Alice Munro has evolved into something more. Despite perceived challenges like Zoom-fatigue, geographical dispersion, and members’ various familiarity with Canadian literature and Alice Munro, the group has come together to build a sense of community and camaraderie in a time of intense social isolation. 

In future posts, we’ll share more about the book club and what we have learned about digital community building, collective reading, and using digital technology to talk about Canadian literature. 

Alice Munro book club members featured on Teachin’ Books podcast 

Several members of the book club recently reflected on their experience participating in a book club during a pandemic in an episode of the Teachin’ Books podcast. Hosted by book club member Jessica McDonald, the podcast is all about the ways people teach, learn, and work with literature. 

Listen to the episode here. 

Episode description: In this episode of Teachin’ Books, I talk to a few members from the lovely Alice Munro book club I’ve been participating in this year: Sarah Roger, Taylor Graham, Tracy Ware, Sandra Hoenle, and Bob Thacker. We chat about Alice Munro’s short story collection Dear Life and, in general, about the experience of ~being in a book club~ (particularly during the pandemic) and how book clubs intersect with teaching and learning.