Bookin’ It

We kindly invite you to attend the Gothic Conference taking place on 21-22 of May on Dobra 55🧛🏻
There, you could find a presentation for any taste — from critical evaluation of the genre and its role in the world of fiction to the application of the conventions to the body and mind. And vampires, of course, we have vampires💅🏻
As the presenters themselves, we would be very glad and proud to see you there and do what we always do — discuss literature 🩷

How often do you think of death? Where is death? What is death? (How is dea...No, it's too much already✍🏻) Are you terrified by it, or do you think it adds layers to life, making it multidimensional?
Well, the novel itself doesn't suggest the reader the univocal answers, but it certainly makes you think if decay of any sort is ubiquitous, and how you should approach it

We invite you to discuss "White Noise" by Don DeLillo. Let's drink tea and enjoy good food while the world around us is falling apart (suspiciously similar to the plot, isn't it?)

Also, that day we are celebrating our first birthday, so everyone has their share of a birthday cake!! 🍰

Date: TO BE ESTABLISHED
Time: 18:30
Venue: Dobra 55, room 3.415 (American Studies Encounters)

is engrossed in our next read! After the break we're meeting to discuss the nerve-tickling novel "Haunting of Hill House" by the master of the Domestic Gothic Shirley Jackson. 🏚️
Together with the Crain family and we'll learn that the ghosts lurking in the night are not twice as terrifying as the ghosts we carry with us in the light of day.
Don't be afraid to join us! Fears fade when you're not alone 🫴🏻
Where: 3.415 (ZKLAP💗)
When: To be disclosed later

Our very international meeting on Barbara Kingsolver's "Demon Copperhead"!
Thanks to for such a detailed and interesting description of the American drug epidemic (really interesting!!), close reading of parts that foregrounded the points the author made, and critical analysis of the story ✍🏻✍🏻✍🏻
See you all (like, more than 3 people, we can count) in the next semester with a new book!

Putting the Christmas shenanigans aside, Bookin’ It Club is entering the New Year with fresh energy and a solid new read for you 📖✨
We’re excited to invite you to our next meeting on January 13/20th(check our page to stay updated) at 6:00 PM 🗓️⏰ in room 3.415 📍, where we’ll be discussing “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver.
Demon Copperhead is a gripping coming-of-age story about a boy growing up in Appalachia while facing poverty, abuse, addiction, and the failures of the social services system. Through highs and lows, Demon discovers love and friendship and most importantly, proves that despite relentless bad luck, the strength of his spirit and his will to live endure 💪❤️.
Was Kingsolver inspired by Dickens’s novels? Is this a modern reimagining of a Victorian classic? 🤔 You’ll have to read to find out! Be sure to start soon! The book is a bit longer than our previous picks, but well worth the journey.
We can’t wait to see you there! 📚🎉

Last week, our club had the pleasure of participating in Noc Anglistów with the lecture about Monstrous Mothers and their roles in North American culture

We operated with the theory of abjection and the monster studies to analyse the convoluted stories of Nola ("The Brood", dir.David Cronenberg), Carrie ("Carrie", Stephen King), and Astrid ("White Oleander", dir.Peter Kosminsky) and their experiences of the monstrous — inside or outside them.

We are thankful to everyone who came in and participated in the lecture! We are also grateful to .uw and and the team for organising the event!

See you there next time!🥀

This month Bookin' It joined forces with and hosted a spooky meeting together! 🎃

We discussed "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James - a story about a governess who is convinced that the children in her care are being corrupted by evil spirits 👻

After the discussion we watched a 1961 film "The Innocents" - an adaption of the book and must-see for every James reader 🎬

We wanted to thank Professor Ziarkowska and Doctor Krawczyk-Żywko for their amazing input and for creating the possibility to organise such a great and spine-chilling meeting.

We also wanted to thank Page Turners for this amazing collab and we hope to do more projects together in the future!

And thanks to everyone who participated in the meeting! We hope you liked the book, the movie and the snacks, see you next time ✨️

On 21st October, we had the pleasure of listening to

Thank you for joining us and walking us through your professional experience! Hearing about your approach to translation and the ideas behind your work was genuinely inspiring. The insights you shared about the industry were very useful and important to those of us who are interested in translation!
We hope we’ll meet again soon and talk about another wonderfully translated book

We also want to congratulate Miss Kaja Gucio on winning the Irena Tuwim Translation Award! It is a great achievement and a recognition of your work. We wish you only "yours" books ahead🥹

Many thanks to for leading the meeting and asking the questions we all wanted to ask, and to for being with us and always pushing our discussions further

Thanks to everyone who came and participated in the discussion! 🫂

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re back!🥳
The holidays are over, the semester is about to begin, and with it Bookin’ It returns!

We’re opening the season with the Booker Prize–winning novel 'James' by Percival Everett.
On October 21st at 6:00 PM in room 3.415, we’ll meet again to discuss the untold story of James — better known by his nickname 'Jim' — the enslaved man from 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn', who was forced to run away from the household where he served, leaving behind his wife and a small daughter.

Our special guests will be Professor Anna Pochmara and Ms Kaja Gucio, who translated 'James' into Polish. We’ll talk about the challenges of translating from English into Polish and will also have the chance to ask Ms Gucio more about her work👩🏻‍🎓

As always, the meeting will be hosted by our beloved Joanna Ziarkowska

Stay tuned for updates, and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday for a warm and engaging discussion!

The last meeting of the year had taken place this Tuesday! 🥳

It was a great pleasure to speak to our special guest — Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman, the author of the memoir ‘Sounds Like Titanic,’ who answered all our questions and inspired us to share our unique stories. We had a wonderful time, and we thank her for that she could make it!

We also want to thank Professor Kelly Ritter-Moffet for proposing the book and making this meeting possible (and for bringing a lot of desserts!), and, of course, we thank our one and only Professor Joanna Ziarkowska—the supervisor of Bookin’ It, for the way she always conducts our meetings and makes us think deeply!

We wish you all an easy session and a nice summer, and we look forward to seeing you in October!🍂🪾

Come to the next week's Bookin' It meeting where we’ll be diving into 🎻 “Sounds Like Titanic: A Memoir” by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman — and the author herself will be joining us online for a live discussion!

🗓️ 27th May
🕰️ 18:30
📍 room 2.110

📖 This unforgettable memoir tells the true story of Jessica’s time in a fake orchestra, pretending to play violin while a CD did the work — all while she struggled to pay for college. With wit, honesty, and insight, she explores themes of identity, ambition, gender, and class in modern America.

See you there! ❣️