UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Marathon Read, an annual literature reading featuring students and other members of the Penn State community, will return to Pattee Mall this fall after taking place virtually the past two years.
This year’s Marathon Read, the tenth annual offering, will take place from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, on Pattee Mall. The event is free and open to the public, and attendees will be given opportunities to read in five-minute intervals throughout the event. Food will be provided by event sponsors during the morning, around midday, and after sunset.
The theme for this year’s event is “The Pursuit of Sustainability.” Texts to be read will illustrate the challenges of reckoning with changes to environments in the Unites States and across the world, as well as the rewards of striving for a more responsible way toward health and prosperity as climates and economies continue to shift.
“Silent Spring,” written by Rachel Carson, will be the first work featured — significant given Carson’s Pennsylvania roots and her role in the advent of modern movements for healthier environments. Writings by Wendell Berry, Ross Gay, Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Pitchaya Sudbanthad, Diego Enrique Osorno, and central Pennsylvania poet K. A. Hays will also be shared.
A land acknowledgment statement will be read at the beginning of the event to recognize the important history of the indigenous people on whose homelands the campus is located. The statement and information on its background can be found at diversity.psu.edu/land-acknowledgement.
Marathon Read is sponsored by the College of the Liberal Arts; Paterno Fellows Program; Department of English; School of Global Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Center for American Literary Studies; Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese; Humanities Institute; Department of Comparative Literature; Department of Asian Studies; and Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literature. It is also one of the events offered as part of the college’s Moments of Change: Creating a Livable Planet initiative– an undertaking that will provide numerous opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and alumni to come together to examine the many aspects of sustainability.
Please visit http://marathonread.psu.edu/ to learn more about Marathon Read or to sign up in advance to read at this year’s event.