Maryland Humanities has selected “The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay” for the 2021 One Maryland One Book program, in its 14th year.
“The Book of Delights” is a collection of lyrical essays. Gay wrote one essay per day over a year and took the time to find “delights” in his everyday life. The essays range in topic from the beauties in nature to what it is to be a Black man in America. Readers can look to Gay’s collection as a guide to finding their own daily delights. The book was chosen by a committee of librarians, educators, authors and bibliophiles in February from more than 160 titles suggested last fall by readers across the state for the theme “Hope.”
“Strife on a global scale makes me people hunger for hope, which is what makes ‘The Book of Delights’ a perfect selection for One Maryland One Book this year,” says Lindsey Baker, executive director at Maryland Humanities. “Ross Gay also doesn’t shy away from life’s hardships. It’s the first book of essays ever chosen for the program, giving Marylanders a wide range of topics to discuss. We look forward to hearing about these conversations.”
“It feels lucky to get to share this collection of questions and wonderings with you all for so many reasons,” Gay says, “one of them that my big brother was an English teacher in Frederick a couple decades ago! And I’m really looking forward to the conversations we’ll have about the book this fall.”
Maryland Humanities created One Maryland One Book to bring together diverse people in communities across the state through the shared experience of reading the same book. We invite readers to participate in book-centered discussions and related programs at public libraries, high schools, colleges, museums, bookstores and community and senior centers around the state.
OMOB programs, including an author tour, take place each year in the fall. A calendar of free public events will be available online beginning this summer.
