The University of Michigan-Flint inaugurated the Common Read program in Fall 2011 with Edwidge Danticat’s Brother, I’m Dying, her 2007 memoir that bridges Haiti and the United States, a story that demonstrates the power of words to recreate worlds of both suffering and love. Ms. Danticat visited the UM-Flint campus on March 13, 2012. During her time at UM-Flint, she engaged in a writing seminar with faculty and students, and she delivered a public presentation on her book.
The UM-Flint Common Read Committee chose Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as the Common Read text for 2012-2013. Skloot’s widely reviewed and praised work of non-fiction focuses on the history of both U.S. medical research and one multi-generational African-American family. Skloot visited UM-Flint as part of the Common Read in the fall.