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‘Dessa Rose’ opens Take Five series exploring multiethnic American literature

"Dessa Rose" by Sherley Anne Williams
"Dessa Rose" by Sherley Anne Williams "Dessa Rose" by Sherley Anne Williams

If you go

› What: Take Five series, featuring “Dessa Rose”› When: 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19› Where: Chattanooga Rooms of UTC University Center off East Fifth Street› Admission: Free› Phone: 423-425-4627

Multiethnic American literature will be the focus of the next Take Five series at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 19, with Sherley Anne Williams’ “Dessa Rose.”

Still to come are Julia Alvarez’ “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “Enemies, A Love Story,” Louise Erdrich’s “Tracks” and Thrity Umrigar’s “The Space Between Us.”

According to director Verbie Prevost, Take Five was the brainchild of Arlie Herron, the George C. Connor Professor of American Literature, who wanted to offer a series that would bring the university and Chattanooga communities together to read and discuss selected works.

“UTC students could sign up for a class that included the Take Five lectures,” Prevost says in a news release. “All other interested individuals from the Chattanooga area were invited to attend the lectures at no cost and participate in the discussions that followed. Five university professors, including Herron, chose a ‘great American novel’ to discuss.”