Odyssey Events

We’re opening our classroom to supporters and friends on Wednesday, January 21, as our students engage in a lively discussion of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” We’d love it if you could join us in person or if it’s more convenient (or the weather doesn’t cooperate!), you can join us online (zoom link below). Either way, it promises to be a special evening. Dinner is from 5-5:30 pm, with class from 5:30-7:30 pm. I hope you can join us for as much of the evening as you’re able.

Reach out to Jenny Pressman, Odyssey’s Director of Development and Community Partnerships, if you have any questions or would like more information. Email her at jenny.pressman@wisc.edu or call at 608-287-8216.

We hope to see you there!

Join on Zoom

Meeting ID: 954 6055 7117

Join fellow booklovers and award-winning UW English professor Emily Auerbach for a lively discussion of two powerful books. Classes meet on Tuesdays in the South Madison Community Room at 2300 S. Park St. (free and accessible parking) from 10-11:30 AM, with coffee and snacks served starting at 9:30 AM. These sessions are free but with the hope participants will donate to the life-changing UW Odyssey Project.

Tuesday, March 3: Toni Morrison, Jazz (1992), with guest Bob Auerbach on keyboard

Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison said her writing was intimately linked to African American music. In her 1992 novel Jazz, music shapes the structure of the novel itself. After giving her readers the plot on the first page (Joe murders his adolescent lover, and his wife attacks the corpse at the funeral), Morrison engages in variations and improvisations. Set in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, the novel moves from the rural South to the urban North, showing trauma and triumph, racism and resilience. We will use keyboard illustrations in class to explore the creative way Morrison makes her language jazz itself.

Tuesday, April 21: Margaret Atwood, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts (2025)

Named one of the 100 best books of 2025, Margaret Atwood’s memoir has been called “the most spectacular, hilarious, and generous autobiography of the last quarter century–or ever” (The Boston Globe) and “a sharp, funny, and engaging autobiography from one of the towering literary figures of our age” (The Guardian). At 85, Atwood is the Canadian author of over 60 books, including The Handmaid’s Tale, but this is her first autobiography. She notes, “I thought about the difference between a memoir and biography and an autobiography. And a memoir is what you remember. So what you remember usually is stupid things you did, near death events, catastrophes, and surprising highlights and jokes. And so that appealed to me.”

REGISTRATION LINK: If you plan to attend Tuesday Morning Booktalks this spring, please register below (even though free) so we know how much food to order and how many handouts to make.

Register here!

Donate to Odyssey

Questions about Tuesday Morning Booktalks? Contact Professor Emily Auerbach at emily.auerbach@wisc.edu.