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Critic’s Choice

Elaine Newton


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Critics Choice 1

Memorial Days 

Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10am, Daniels Pavilion
Saturday, December 13, 2025, 10am, Hayes Hall
Elaine Newton, Professor Emeritus of Humanities at York University, Toronto

From Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author Geraldine Brooks comes a spare, deeply moving memoir reflecting on the sudden loss of her husband and a three-year journey toward healing and renewal.

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Critics Choice 2

Colored Television

Thursday, January 22, 2026, 10am, Daniels Pavilion
Saturday, January 24, 2026, 10am, Hayes Hall
Elaine Newton, Professor Emeritus of Humanities at York University, Toronto

Join Elaine Newton for a discussion of Colored Television, Danzy Senna’s sharp and darkly comic novel about love, ambition and creative reinvention, centered on a writer’s quest to craft the next great biracial comedy for a rising young TV producer.

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Critics Choice 3

The Safekeep

Thursday, February 26, 2026, 10am, Daniels Pavilion
Saturday, February 28, 2026, 10am, Hayes Hall
Elaine Newton, Professor Emeritus of Humanities at York University, Toronto

Set in the Dutch countryside in the summer of 1961, The Safekeep is a mysterious, elegant and sensual debut in which paranoia gives way to infatuation… and the buried legacies of World War II slowly rise to the surface.

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Critics Choice 4

My Friends 

Thursday, April 9, 2026, 10am, Daniels Pavilion
Saturday, April 11, 2026, 10am, Hayes Hall
Elaine Newton, Professor Emeritus of Humanities at York University, Toronto

Join Elaine Newton for a discussion of My Friends, a funny and moving new novel from No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, in which the lasting bond of four teenagers becomes the heart — and mystery — of a world-famous painting.

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Critics Choice 9
© Anne Fishbein

David Sedaris

Sunday, November 2, 2025, 7pm, Hayes Hall
David Sedaris, author

Bestselling author and humorist David Sedaris returns to Hayes Hall with his signature blend of sharp wit and keen social commentary, following the release of Happy Go Lucky and his first ever children’s book, Pretty Ugly

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Critics Choice 7
© Reynaldo Rivera

Colm Tóibín

Saturday, February 7, 2026, 10am, Hayes Hall
Colm Tóibín, author
Elaine Newton, host

Join acclaimed author Colm Tóibín for a compelling conversation with Elaine Newton about his latest novel, Long Island, the long-awaited sequel to Brooklyn. Together, they explore themes of exile, silence and the universal longing for connection and belonging.

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