Reading Groups

Faith as Force: Christianity in Black Literature, Volume II with Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

Clear

6 sessions Thursdays, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT October 30, 2025 to March 5, 2026

Online via Zoom

The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at an additional 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
10/30, 11/13, 12/11, 1/8, 2/5, 3/5
Online via Zoom

In diverse and inventive ways, Black writers have grappled with the abuse of Christianity to enslave, colonize, and diminish Black people, as well as its role in Black liberation movements and its central premise of salvation. In this group, we’ll read new and classic texts to explore how authors have mined this tension to create thoughtful, thought-provoking work. (Note: This is the second session in this series. Participation in Volume 1 is not a requirement.)

Session 1: Zora Neale Hurston’s semi-autobiographical debut novel, Jonah’s Gourd Vine, considers, among other things, the role of church and class/community ascendancy in postbellum African-American life.
Session 2: James Baldwin’s semi-autobiographical Go Tell It on the Mountain explores the nuances at the intersection of Christianity, the church, and family.
Sessions 3 and 4: Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone unspools recent Ethiopian history from the perspective of orphaned brothers adopted by doctors in a Catholic mission hospital.
Session 5: Monster in the Middle by Tiphanie Yanique weaves themes of race, religion, science, and more in a generation-spanning love story.

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston

What to expect from this reading group: This will be a discussion-driven group guided by instructor prompts.

Reading List:

Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga
Monster in the Middle by Tiphanie Yanique

Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is the author of Powder Necklace: A Novel, Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky, Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices, and My Parents’ Marriage: A Novel. Learn more at nanabrewhammond.com.

About this series

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Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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