Name: America Retold: A Book Club in Helsinki
Start: 2026-01-13T01:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-01-13T03:30:00+02:00
Location: Oodi Central Library Helsinki

Welcome to America Retold: an English-language book club for changing times!
We will discuss the art of adaptation and re-imagination, through three American novels that are generally viewed as part of the country's literary canon (Little Women, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby). After each, we will watch a film version of the novel, and read a contemporary novel that takes a fresh perspective on the original.
The Book Club will be held every 2nd Monday of the month from October 2025 to May 2026 at Learning Space 3, 2nd floor, Oodi Central Library.
Movie screenings are at Aura, 2nd floor.
At the first meeting on September 8th we will be discussing Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, 1868).
The schedule:
• Monday September 8. Book club discussion Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, 1868), 18.30-20.30, Learning Space 3.
• Monday October 13. Screening and discussion of the film Little Women (dir.Greta Gerwig, 2019) 18.00-20.30, Aura
• Monday November 10. Book club discussion March (Geraldine Brooks, 2005) 1830-2030, Learning Space 3.
• Monday December 8. Book club discussion Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain, 1884). 18.30-20.30, Learning Space 3.
• Monday January 12. Discussion of film adaptation of Huckleberry Finn (version to be announced). 18.00-20.30, Aura
• Monday February 9. Book club discussion James (Percival Everett, 2024). 18.30-20.30, Learning Space 3
• Monday March 9. Book club discussion The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925). 18.30-20.30, Learning Space 3.
• Monday April 13. Screening and discussion of the film The Great Gatsby (film, dir. Baz Luhrman 2013) 18.00-20.30, Aura
• Monday May 11. Book club discussion The Chosen and the Beautiful (Nghi Vo, 2021). 18.30-20.30, Learning Space 3
We look forward to conversations about the art and craft of storytelling; what qualities make a book last as a classic; the creativity and risk involved in reworking well-loved novels; and how fiction, in different forms, provides a window on enduring issues in American history.
The club is run by Keith Brown and Shelley Stephenson. After running book clubs in Tempe, Arizona for the past two years, they are spending 2025-2026 in Helsinki, where Keith holds the Fulbright Bicentennial Chair in North American Studies at the University of Helsinki.
The club is open to everyone, with no need to register. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to read each book before we discuss it. Discussions will be in English.