Great Books Lecture Series
The Great Books Lecture Series is an annual speaker series that explores books based on a theme. The lecture series, delivered by academics, explores humanity, diverse views and possibilities through independent presentations on important literary titles as they relate to the series’ annual theme. The series is curated by Paul Chafe of Toronto Metropolitan University.
The theme of Toronto Public Library's 2024 Great Books Lecture Series is Books as Battlefields.
The 2024 edition of The Great Books Lecture Series at Toronto Public Library will examine banned, challenged and contested books that shape our understandings of others and ourselves. Brazen, bold books will be discussed and debated as we examine how literature has always been a volatile space of clashing identities, philosophies, and existences.
Academic presenters will examine literature from various time periods and delve into the conversations and communities that defend, decry, or otherwise debate the book and its contents. Why must we engage with texts that seek to redefine us?
Toronto Public Library is committed to protecting and defending intellectual freedom across our collections, programs and spaces. Learn more about Intellectual Freedom at TPL.
TPL is also proud to join the Book Sanctuary Movement, declaring all of our spaces – in our 100 branches and online – as Book Sanctuaries. Simply put, whether in branches or online, TPL is a safe space for all stories and ideas. Find out more about TPL’s Book Sanctuary collection.
Upcoming Programs
- May 9: Burning Issues: Reading Fahrenheit 451 Today
- May 28: Uncle Tom's Cabin
- May 30: "Something Infinitely Precious": Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway
- June 4: Consent and Censorship in Gloeckner’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl and in Tamakis’ Skim and This One Summer
- June 5: Unsettling Desires: Understanding Sex in Sally Rooney’s Normal People
- June 12: The Sounds of Orwell’s Animal Farm
- June 19: Burning It All Down: Stevenson's Nimona and the Power of Not Fitting In
Past Programs
Watch replays of Great Books Lecture Series programs
Great Books Reading List
Interested in reading some literary classics?
This reading list includes titles referenced by academic presenters in the 2024 Great Books Lecture Series.