Read in Peace Book Club: A club for the living to discuss the dead

Read in Peace Book Club at Historic Oakwood

This Just in!
The Read in Peace book Club will be joined by Kathleen Driskell via zoom, author of our pick for January 2026, “Next Door to the Dead”.
This book is a lot of firsts for us, first book of 2026, first poetry book and first author Q and A.

Special thank you to Beth for making this happen<3

More about our special guest:
Award-winning poet, essayist, and teacher Kathleen Driskell has authored of six poetry collections, most recently Goat-Footed Gods (Carnegie Mellon UP). Other collections include Blue Etiquette: Poems, a finalist for the Weatherford Award; Next Door to the Dead, winner of the Judy Gaines Young Book Award; and Seed Across Snow, a Poetry Foundation national bestseller. Her individual poems and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Rattle, River Teeth, Appalachian Review, The Southern Review, Shenandoah and other magazines; and her work has been featured in Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and American Life in Poetry. From 2019-22, she served as chair of the board of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, the professional organization of creative writers and creative writing programs with around 75,000 members. She is professor of creative writing and Chair of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, where she lives with her husband in an old country church built before the American Civil War. On April 24, 2025, Governor Andy Beshear appointed Kathleen as the 2025-26 Kentucky Poet Laureate.

A club for the living to discuss the dead
Oakwood Read in Peace book club meets on the third Thursday of each month. Join us at 10am in the House of Memory to discuss our most recent book, bring your coffee and a curious mind.
This group is free and open to all. Didn’t read the book? No worries, stop by and enjoy the conversation.
Event signs will be posted to direct attendees, make sure you arrive via our Oakwood Ave entrance.

Winter 2026
January- Next Door to the Dead, Kathleen Driskell
February- Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green
March- The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County, Claire Swinarski
April- The Secret Life of a Cemetery, Benoit Gallot

Have a book suggestion?
We are currently working on our book list for the next quarter and would love to hear your recommendations. We are particularly interested in your favorite books related to local history, the death industry, cemeteries, and monumental art.
Please email Program Coordinator Brianna McCormick with any suggestions, questions, or concerns. Bri@historicoakwood.com