About the Common Book Program
The Eastfield Common Book Program was created to engage students and the campus community in intellectual and community-building activities through a shared reading experience. Each year, a single book is selected that represents issues central to the campus community in order to enrich student experiences and spark a campus-wide conversation across all courses and disciplines.
Watch this introductory video about the 2020-2021 Eastfield Common Book Tornado Season by Courtney Craggett.
Courtney Craggett's powerful short story collection explores the lives of foster children, immigrants, teachers and, yes, tornado survivors. The stories in Tornado Season reflect dreams, ambitions, cultural collisions and fantasy.
Courtney Craggett started her college career at Eastfield College. She holds a PhD in English with specializations in creative writing and multi-ethnic American literature from the University of North Texas, where she taught English and served as the American Literary Review's Assistant Fiction Editor. Her short stories appear in The Pinch, Mid-American Review, Washington Square Review, Booth, Juked, Word Riot, and Monkeybicycle, among others, and were featured on Ploughshares' blog. Her reviews appear in American Microreviews and Interviews. Twice nominated for a Pushcart, Courtney is the editors' choice winner of the 2014 Sherwood Anderson Award and the winner of The Pinch's Spring 2017 Featured Contributor Award. She is an Assistant Professor of English at Weber State University.
Courtney is an alumna of Eastfield College where Professor Elizabeth Huston inspired her to become a writer and pursue her PhD in English. Watch this short video to hear how Eastfield influenced and supported her!
Source: Black Lawrence Press