Last Wednesday night, we officially closed the door on the 2016-2017 One Book, One Philadelphia reading period for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (although, let’s be honest, you can totally still begin or continue reading!), and subsequently opened the programming season – kicked off by, well, our annual Kickoff Event!

To commemorate the start of programs celebrating the selection across our libraries – nearly 100 in total! – we gathered in the Montgomery Auditorium of Parkway Central Library to welcome back five former One Book featured authors: Lorene Cary (2003), James McBride (2004), Carlos Eire (2007), Steve Lopez (2009), and Christina Baker Kline (2015). Moderated by 6abc’s Tamala Edwards, the star-studded panel discussed current events through the One Book, One Philadelphia lens, and offered insights on their personal processes and writing styles.

The evening also included a video interview with 2017 author Mark Haddon; an excerpt from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time play, which will be coming soon to the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts; and an original musical composition entitled “Homonculus,” inspired by The Curious Incident, composed by Nick DiBerardino and performed by Neil Rao, both of the Curtis Institute of Music.

The current political climate lent itself to some poignant conversation, but the most powerful takeaway from our Kickoff Event was the realization of just how many relevant topics One Book, One Philadelphia has tackled over the past 15 years in its efforts to promote literacy, library usage, and citywide conversation. We hope you’ve been able to benefit from these important conversations over the years and will continue to do so going forward.

Interested in reading and exploring a past selection? Check them out in our One Book, One Philadelphia archive!

Missed the Kickoff? Watch it now via our Livestream channel!