Literature at Work: The Robert Braham Seminar

Years ago, a medical chief resident suggested that we start a medical center reading group. What started as a handful of residents reading a short story once a month has developed into a graduate-level literature seminar that meets twice a month for the serious study of literature. Since March 18th of 2020, the group now meets from 4-5 p.m., the first and third Wednesday of each month, on Zoom. Email Esther Modell at esthermodell@gmail.com to be added to the list for readings and for details on how to join the online meeting. Prior to March 2020, the group had met in-person in the division conference room, General Medicine, Presbyterian Hospital, 9th floor, East Wing, Room 105 (PH9E-101).

Pediatricians, nurses, internists, social workers, medical students, hospital administrators, pathologists, dentists, informatics faculty, psychiatrists, and graduate students in English are some of the participants in the seminar now titled "Literature at Work." Our Literature at Work discussion group has been named to honor Dr. Robert Braham, physician, Director of the Primary Care Residency Program, and Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University. Bob Braham passed away suddenly on Tuesday, November 12th, 2002.

Audience: All Columbia faculty and staff are welcome, as well as alumnx from the Columbia professional health and narrative medicine programs.

Chair: Dr. Rita Charon, Chair, Dept. of Medical Humanities & Ethics and division chief of Narrative Medicine

When: The group meets from 4-5 p.m., the first and third Wednesday of each month, via Zoom. Email Esther Modell at esthermodell@gmail.com to be added to the list for readings and for details on how to join the online meeting.

Readings

2023

October 4 | Paul Harding - This Other Eden (second half)

September 20 | Paul Harding - This Other Eden (first half)

September 6 | James Agee and Walker Evans - Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

August 16 | James Agee and Walker Evans - Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

August 2 | James Agee - A Death in the Family

July 19 | James Agee - A Death in the Family

July 5 | Claire Keegan - Small Things Like These

June 21 | Claire Keegan - Foster and Small Things Like These

June 7 | A Presentation by Lynn Lawrence

May 17 | Saidya Hartman - Wayward Lives: Beautiful Experiments

May 3 | Saidya Hartman - Wayward Lives: Beautiful Experiments

April 19 | Octavia Butler - Kindred

April 5 | Isaac Asimov - Nightfall and It’s Such a Beautiful Day

March 15 | Jean Rhys - The Wide Sargasso Sea

March 1 | Edith Pearlman - Stone and Hat Trick

February 15 | Marguerite Duras - The Lover

February 1 | Virginia Woolf - The Waves

January 18 | Virginia Woolf - The Waves

January 4 | Virginia Woolf - The Waves

December 21 | Annie Ernaux - The Years
December 7 | Annie Ernaux - The Years
November 16 | Annie Ernaux - Happening
November 2 | Annie Ernaux - Happening
October 19 | Charles Dickens - David Copperfield
October 5 | Charles Dickens - David Copperfield
September 21 | Charles Dickens - David Copperfield
September 7 | Charles Dickens - David Copperfield
August 17 | Charles Dickens - David Copperfield
August 3 | Charlotte Perkins Gilman - The Yellow Wallpaper AND Haruki Murakami - Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey
July 20 | Jorge Luis Borges - Shakespeare's Memory and Funes the Memorious
July 6 | Jorge Luis Borges - Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote AND Haruki Murakami - The Wind Cave
June 15 | David Grossman - More Than I Love My Life
June 1 | David Grossman - More Than I Love My Life
May 18 | Primo Levi - "A Tranquil Star"
May 4 | Maylis de Kerangal - The Heart
April 20 | Maylis de Kerangal - The Heart
April 6 | Arthur Koestler - Darkness at Noon
March 16 | Arthur Koestler - Darkness at Noon
March 2 | W.G. Sebold - The Emigrants
February 16 | W.G. Sebold - The Emigrants
February 2 | James Joyce - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
January 19 | James Joyce - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
January 5 | Rachel Kadish - The Weight of Ink

2021

December 15 | Rachel Kadish - The Weight of Ink

December 1 | Isaac Bashevis Singer - Yentl the Yeshiva Boy

November 17 | Nellie Larson - Passing

November 3 | Olga Tokarczuk - "Yente"

October 20 | William Maxwell - They Came Like Swallows

October 6 | William Maxwell - They Came Like Swallows

September 15 | Postponed for holiday

September 1 | Ayad Akhtar - Homeland Elegies

August 18 | Ayad Akhtar - Homeland Elegies

August 4 | William Shakespeare - Measure for Measure

July 21 | William Shakespeare - Hamlet

July 7 | William Shakespeare - Hamlet

June 16 | Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet

June 2 | Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet

May 19 | Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita

May 5 | Penelope Fitzgerald - The Bookshop

April 21 | Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita

April 7 | Edward P. Jones - Lost in the City

March 17 | Edward P. Jones - A Butterfly on F Street

February 17 | Robertson Davies - The Rebel Angels

February 3 | Pat Barker - Regeneration

January 20 | Canceled for Inauguration

January 6 | Pat Barker - Regeneration

2020

December 16 | Shirley Hazzard - Collected Stories (first 3/4 stories)
December 2 | Philip Roth - The Human Stain
November 18 | Philip Roth - The Human Stain
November 4 | Philip Roth - The Human Stain
October 21 | Magda Szabo - The Door
October 7 | Primo Levi - The Periodic Table
September 16 | Toni Morrison - Home
September 2 | Magda Szabo - The Door
August 19 | Magda Szabo - The Door
August 5 | Colin McCann - Apierogon
July 15 | Colin McCann - Apierogon
July 1 | Anton Chekhov - Ward 6
June 17 | Dylan Thomas - Under Milkwood
June 3 | Dylan Thomas - Under Milkwood
May 20 | Elizabeth Strout - Olive Again
May 6 | Elizabeth Strout - Olive Again
April 15 | Delmore Schwartz - In Dreams Begin Responsibilities.
April 1 | Richard Powers - The Overstory
March 18 | Richard Powers - The Overstory (Group transitioned to online meetings via Zoom)
March 4 | Richard Powers - The Overstory
February 19 | Richard Powers – The Overstory
February 5 | Aminatta Forna – Happiness: A Novel
January 15 | Aminatta Forna – Happiness: A Novel
January 1 | Cancelled for New Year’s Day – see you January 15!

2019

December 18 | Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God
December 4 | Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God
November 20 | Zora Neale Hurston – Sweat andThe Gilded Six-Bits
November 6 | Margaret Atwood – The Testaments
October 16 | Margaret Atwood – The Testaments
October 2 | Toni Morrison – Jazz
September 18 | Toni Morrison – Jazz
September 4 | Viet Thanh Ngugen – The Sympathizer
August 21 | Viet Thanh Ngugen – The Sympathizer
August 7 | NoViolet Bulawayo – We Need New Names
July 17 | NoViolet Bulawayo – We Need New Names
July 3 | NoViolet Bulawayo – “Shhh” from We Need New Names
June 19 | Mavis Gallant – Across the Bridge
June 5 | Mavis Gallant – Across the Bridge
May 15 | Don DeLillo – White Noise
May 1 | Don DeLillo – White Noise
April 17 | Karen Russell – “Reeling for the Empire” and “The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach” from Vampires in the Lemon Grove
April 3 | Karen Russell – “The New Veterans” from Vampires in the Lemon Grove
March 20 | Anna Burns – Milkman
March 6 | Anna Burns – Milkman
February 20 | Louise Erdrich – Love Medicine and Alice Munroe – Floating Bridge
February 6 | Louise Erdrich – Love Medicine
January 16 | Tommy Orange – There, There

2018

December 19 | Patrick Modiano – Missing Person
December 5 | Rachel Cusk – Kudos!
November 21 | Cancelled for Thanksgiving Holiday – see you December 5!
September 19 | Cancelled for Holiday – see you October 3!
September 5 | Albert Camus – The Stranger
August 15 | Ivan Turgenev – First Love Read it online
July 18 & August 1 | Fyodor Dostoevsky – White Nights Read it online
June 20 | Nikolai Gogol – The Nose PDF of the story
June 6 | Alexander Pushkin – The Queen of Spades PDF of short story
May 16 | Julio Cortázar – The Night Face Up a short story Link to PDF of short story
May 2 | Julio Cortázar – Axolotl a short story Link to PDF of short story
April 18 | Jorge Luis Borges – The Garden of Forking Paths Link toPDF of short story, also author Mohsin Hamid reads from and discusses Jorge Luis Borges’ The Book of Sand Link to Podcast online
April 4 | John Banville – Mrs. Osmond: A novel
March 7 & 21 | John Banville – Mrs. Osmond: A novel
February 21 | John Banville – Mrs. Osmond: A novel
February 7 | Mohsin Hamid – Exit West
January 3 & 24 | Ruth Ozeki – A Tale for the Time Being

2017

December 20 | Ruth Ozeki – A Tale for the Time Being Part I, pages 1-109
December 6 | James Baldwin – Sonny’s Blues
November 15 | Poem by Emily Dickinson to be provided in the session. There are no pre-readings.
November 1 | Yaa Gyasi – Homegoing (first 100 pages for November 1)
October 17 | D. H. Lawrence – Odour of Chrysanthemums and if time allows, also The Rocking Horse Winner
September 20 & October 4 | Rachel Cusk – Outline
August 16 & September 6 | Rachel Cusk – Transit
July 19 & August 2 | Michel Houellebecq – The Map and the Territory
June 21 & July 5 | Elif Şafak – The Architect’s Apprentice
June 7 | Elizabeth Strout – Anything Is Possible
May 17 | Henrik Ibsen’s – A Doll’s House
April 19, May 3 | Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter
March 1 & 15 | Colin Toibin – The Master
February 1 & 15 | Honore de Balzac – Pere Goriot
December 21, 2016, January 4 & 18, 2017 | Michael Chabon – Moonglow

2016

December 7 | Helen Oyeyemi – Boy Snow Bird
October 5 – November 16 | Septimania, by Jonathan Levi, with a visit by Jonathon Levi on November 16th
September 21 | Colette – Blue Lantern
September 7 | William Faulkner – The Bear | Link to story online
August 17 | Honoré de Balzac – The Unknown Masterpiece | Link to PDF of story online
August 3 | Henry James – The Madonna of the Future | Link to PDF of story online
July 20 | Two short stories from The New Yorker (June 6 & 13): Langston Hughes – Seven People Dancing (Link to story online) & Jonathan Safran Foer – Maybe it Was the Distance (Link to story online)
July 6 | Short story from The New Yorker (June 6 & 13): Ben Lerner – The Polish Rider | Link to story online
June 15 | Short story from The New Yorker (June 6 & 13): Zadie Smith – Two Men Arrive in a Village | Link to story online
June 1 | D.H. Lawrence – The Odour of Chrysanthemums | Link to story online
May 18 | Ann Burack-Weiss – The Lioness in Winter
April 20 & May 4 | Murasaki Shikibu – Tales of Genji (Royall Tylor translation)
March 16 & April 6 | Haruki Murakami – Kafka on the Shore
February 3 & 17 | Colum McCann – 13 Ways of Looking

2015

November 18 through January 20, 2016 | Henry James – The Ambassadors
November 4, 2015 – Herman Melville – Billy Budd
October 7 & 21, 2015 – Toni Morrison – Beloved
September 2 & 16, 2015 – Edith Wharton – A Custom of the Country
August 5 & 19, 2015 – Sinclair Lewis – Main Street
July 1 & 15, 2015 – Dalia Sofer – The Septembers of Shiraz
June 3 & 17, 2015 – Rabih Alamaddine – An Unnecessary Woman
April 15, May 6 & May 20 2015 – Virginia Woolf – To the Lighthouse
March 18 & April 1, 2015 – Anthony Doerr – All the Light we Cannot See
February 18 & March 4, 2015 – Nellie Hermann – The Season of Migration Nellie Hermann was also our special guest on March 4th!
January 21 & February 4, 2015 – Colm Toibin – Norah Webster
January 7, 2015 – Penelope Fitzgerald – The Beginning of Spring

2014

December 3 & December 17, 2014 – Phil Klay – Redeployment
October 15 – November 19, 2014 – Haruki Murakami – Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgramage. Also, please read on your own The Dead by James Joyce
September 17 & October 1, 2014 – John Williams – Stoner
September 3: John Patrick Stanley – Doubt
July 16, August 6 & August 20: Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner
June 18 & July 2: Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
June 4: Is there Life After Death, Henry James
April 30: The Middle Years, Henry James
April 16: A Round of Visits, Henry James
April 2: Beast in the Jungle, Henry James
March 19: What Maisie Knew, Henry James
February 19, March 5, March 19: What Maisie Knew, Henry James
January 15, February 5: The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

2013

December 4: Vampires in Lemon Grove, Karen Russell
November 8: The Trial, Franz Kafka
September 18, October 2: East of Eden, John Steinbeck
August 7, August 21: Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
July 17: Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
May 15, June 5: The Chemistry of Tears, Peter Carey
May 1, April 17: Blackwater Lightship, Colin Toibin
April 3, March 20: Dear Life: Stories, Alice Munro
February 20, March 6: As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
December 19, 2012, January, 16, February 6: The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

2012

October 3, October 17, November 7: Telegraph Avenue, Michael Chabon
September 5 & 19: When Women were Birds, Terry Tempest Williams
July 18: The Genesis Section of the Bible
July 11: Home: A Novel, Marilynne Robinson
June 20: Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
May 16 & June 6: The Great Night: A Novel, Chris Adrian
April 4 & 18: The Good Soldier, Ford Maddox Ford
March 7: The Cat’s Table, Michael Ondaatje

2011

December 7 & 21, January 4: The Hare with Amber Eyes, Edmund De Waal
November 2 & 16: The Spectator Bird, Wallace Stegner
October 5 & 19: Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner
September 7 & 21, October 5: The Love of My Youth, Mary Gordon
July 7 and 21: Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann

2009

September 2 & 16: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 1: Swann’s Way, Marcel Proust (preferably the Lydia Davis translation)
August 5 & 19: Scenes of Clerical Life, George Eliot (“Amos Barton,” “Mr. Gilfil’s Love Story” & “Janet’s Repentance”)
June 17, July 1, July 15: The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot

2008

October 1 & 15: Divisadero, Michael Ondaatje
September 3 & 17: Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
August 6 & 20: The Echantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie
July 2 & 16: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz
June 4: Diary of a bad year, J.M. Coetzee
May 7 & 21: The Sorrows of an American: A Novel, Siri Hustvedt
April 16: The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
January 2 & 16, February 6: Tin Drum, Gunther Grass
October 3 & 17, November 21: Daniel Deronda, George Eliot
December 5 & 19: Peeling the Onion, Gunther Grass