More Oprah's Book Club, Plus

Oprah Winfrey, Anderson Cooper plan 'biggest book club event ever' with 'Say You're One of Them'

November 5, 4:02 PM | Literature Examiner | Connie Ann Kirk

Oprah Winfrey of The Oprah Winfrey Show and Anderson Cooper of AC 360 on CNN plan what has been called "the biggest book club event ever" with a webcast activity related to the book, Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan. The event is a worldwide discussion of the book by readers, simulcast via the Internet which will take place on Monday, November 9 at 9 p.m. ET. The book is an Oprah's Book Club selection.

The book discussion will utilize the power of the Internet to join readers from around the world in a live and interactive book chat. Oprah.com, CNN.com, and Facebook will all be participating. Registration for the event (sending an "RSVP") is open at Oprah.com. Participation is free and open to the public.

Say You're One of Them is a collection of five stories, each set in a different country in Africa and told from the perspective of a child narrator. One story, for instance, "My Parents' Bedroom," which Winfrey describes as "the most heartbreaking" story in the collection, dramatizes the Rwanda genocide in an intensely personal way, from the point of view of 9-year-old girl.

Uwem Akpan is a Jesuit priest from Nigeria who studied philosophy and English at Creighton and Gonzaga universities and theology for three years at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. In 2006, he received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan. Father Akpan has taught at a Jesuit college in Zimbabwe and now serves the people of Christ the King Church in Ilasamaja-Lagos, Nigeria.

For more information about the Say You're One of Them web event, see the book club pages on Oprah.com.

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On a different but relevant and surprising story:
UPDATE: Oprah Still Mulling Her Next Move

By Josef Adalian
Published: November 05, 2009

One entertainment website, following up on reports on TheWrap and LATimes.com, claims that Oprah Winfrey's already finalized plans to depart daytime.

But a spokesperson for Winfrey just confirmed our report from Wednesday: There's no news-- for now.

Winfrey "has not made a decision yet," her rep said. "As she has previously stated, she'll be making an announcement before the end of the year."

A spokesman for CBS TV Distribution echoed the Winfrey camp.

"Nothing has changed," he said. "The decision is Oprah’s to make. As we have stated repeatedly, we love Oprah and if she wants to continue her show then we want to continue to be in business with her."

As TheWrap reported yesterday, Winfrey is getting closer to a decision. And the appointment of a key "Oprah Winfrey Show" producer to the role of chief creative officer at OWN has set off fierce speculation that Winfrey might have decided to focus more on her cable assets.

Odds have long favored Winfrey shaking up her syndication deal after her current deal with CBS Television Distribution ends in August 2011.

What's more, while some choose to focus on the notion that Winfrey might move her five-day-a-week talk show to OWN, it seems much more likely that Winfrey would cut back her time commitment to talking if she moved to OWN-- perhaps a weekly or twice-weekly program?

Read our original post here. And tune in to CNN tonight when Anderson Cooper interviews Winfrey on CNN.

UPDATED 3:24 CST TO INCLUDE CTD STATEMENT

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And for good measure, a gorgeous picture of our favorite Silver Fox.
(Looks familiar? I'm sure it looks a lot like your own computer.)