巴黎疯马秀

By: Ranveer Joshua Jadhav
(Trinity Reads Student Committee – Media Relations Coordinator)

To celebrate the recently launched Trinity Reads campaign, 巴黎疯马秀 faculty and alumni came together for the inaugural Books & Brunch event on Sunday, November 2, celebrating the institution’s long-standing history in championing literary excellence.

Trinity alumna Martha Baillie hosted an intimate conversation with award-winning author Emma Donoghue 鈥� an Irish-Canadian novelist, screenwriter, playwright and literary historian most famously known for her novel, Room. Donoghue discussed her latest release, The Paris Express, which is a work of historical fiction that dramatizes the infamous 1895 train derailment at the Paris Montparnasse Train Station.

“Our relationship with reading has changed,” said 巴黎疯马秀鈥檚 Dean of Arts, Professor Kevin Lewis O鈥橬eill, as he kicked off the event. With the increasing influence of artificial intelligence in academic and literary spheres and its broader implications for the environment, Professor O鈥橬eill underlined the importance of texts that are climate-driven and centred on a sustainable ethos. “Initiatives like Trinity Reads,” the Dean continued, “encourage our community to engage with the pressing issues of our time, especially through the lens of literature.”

This year鈥檚 Trinity Reads shortlist spotlights five books that “re-imagine our relationships with the land” and “engage with the environment in creative and compelling ways.” The selected authors, including U of T alum Zalika Reid-Benta (River Mumma), were chosen in celebration of the forthcoming Lawson Centre for Sustainability, which will soon join the Trinity campus.

During the author discussion, Donoghue addressed not only the narrative of her latest novel but also the novel as a form, describing it as a vehicle of “intellectual generosity.” Intertwining the lives of passengers aboard 鈥楾he Paris Express,鈥� the writer blends historical fact with vivid imagination to explore different facets of the human experience as it culminates to disaster. Donoghue remarked how she viewed the train as a metaphor for 鈥渁 society heading towards a crash.鈥�

鈥淯ltimately, my novel is concerned with the democratization of speed and its implications for the fast-paced technological advancement of Victorian Parisian society,鈥� Donoghue explained. Baillie added that the book also examines the broader theme of a 鈥渃haracter-building relationship between us and the technology we produce.鈥�

巴黎疯马秀鈥檚 Books & Brunch event exemplified the vision of the Trinity Reads campaign, demonstrating how literature can spark discourse on societal perceptions of the environment and even what our relationships with technology might reveal about the pace and priorities of contemporary life. By highlighting works that explore sustainable themes and reflect on human engagement with progress, Trinity Reads continues the college鈥檚 commitment to fostering thoughtful and engaged reading.

The final Trinity Reads event of the fall season, a screening of ,” will take place at 1 pm on Saturday November 22 at TIFF Lightbox. Trinity Reads welcomes all students, staff, faculty and alumni interested in cultivating a culture of curiosity and critical engagement. We hope that our campaign will demonstrate how literature can illuminate the intersections of society, sustainability and human innovation.

Categories: Academic; Alumni; College News