Are you hungry to read challenging fiction that touches on issues of faith, science, religion, and love? This two-part book club will feast on acclaimed author Yaa Gyasi’s latest novel, Transcendent Kingdom, which is also the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Go Big Read selection for 2021.

Transcendent Kingdom follows Gifty, a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Stanford and youngest daughter from a family of Ghanian immigrants.

Recently longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction, A Washington Post review praised Transcendent Kingdom  as “a book of blazing brilliance.”

We hope you will join leader and English teacher Will Montei at Upper House to explore this compelling book as part of this fall’s Go Big Read!

Who is the Cohort for?

Anyone interested in reading and discussing fiction and being part of the larger Madison-area community reading Transcendant Kingdom.

Frequency and Duration

We will meet twice: on Wednesday, October 6 and Wednesday, October 27 (5:00-6:30pm) at Upper House.

Cohort Capacity

14 participants. Registration will close when full.

Resources Required

Participants will be asked to purchase their own copy of Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom.

Group Leader

Will Montei is an English teacher at Middleton High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Writing with a minor in Philosophy from Calvin University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Seattle Pacific University.