UMSL Common Read Project: If Beale Street Could Talk

work by Marlena Neal

While updating my files this weekend, I came across this lovely article about the UMSL Common Read Project from this Fall, 2019. This year was UMSL’s first Common Read project, and juniors were excited to participate by reading James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk, and typesetting excerpts of this book and pairing Baldwin’s work with writers from a number of eras and backgrounds, including Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paulo Coelho, Langston Hughes and Kiese Laymon.

work by Landon Ruan, Anel Mehmedovic, Elyse Seibel

This was one of our most lively and interesting book projects: the text spoke to students, and each student seemed to find a different vital thread about how we live life in urban areas of the United States in the 20th century. It was a pleasure and a privilege to hear engage with this book. The classical books created for this project record the vitality of these important conversations

work by Dylan Stevens

Check out the this article and pictures of the gorgeous books here: Design students connect with Common Read through typeset project.