Ocean Vuong kicks off our first full day of Winter Institute with the breakfast keynote, Alternative Truths: the bookstore and library as sites of counter knowledge, play, inquiry, and freedom. Ocean Vuong’s personal experiences — as a writer and educator from the working poor, and as a professor for over 10 years in both private and public universities — give him a unique perspective on the role of independent bookstores and public libraries. How do they provide an accessible and affordable alternative to private and state-funded institutional knowledge, and how can they become antidotes to bastions of power and prestige? Vuong will explore how smaller, community-based reading ecosystems support freedom and learning.

Session Video & Resources

Recorded February 24, 2025, at Winter Institute 2025 in Denver

 

Additional bookstore education resources can be found at www.bookweb.org.

 

 

Theme song by Constant Companion