Your favorite literary club on campus could be one you haven’t heard of. Suffolk University’s monthly book club Long Story Short was founded in 2022 and provides students a safe and welcoming space to read books they may never have thought of picking up before.
Long Story Short is a club through Suffolk’s Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion and sets itself apart through the perspective its members take on reading and bringing reading to campus.
According to co-captain Nicole Henninger, the club’s mission is to not only promote reading on campus but to read stories that provide diverse voices and perspectives.
“Our mission is to get a broader variety of voices heard from marginalized communities,” said Henninger. “We want to share [those voices] with different students that maybe have only listened to or read westernized authors.”
Each month, the club chooses a form of writing, whether that be a book, a set of short stories, a script from a play or a collection of essays, that focuses on topics related to the observances of that month. For example, Henninger shared that for Disability Awareness Month, the club chose to read a collection of essays from different authors who have experienced a form of disability.
According to Henninger, the club also read a graphic novel called “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, which ended up being one of her favorite reads that the club did.
“It was my first time ever reading that style of novel. And it brought a lot of insight about the author. It was a memoir from a non-binary author and it discussed their experiences like going to the doctors and discovering themself. And I thought that was a really interesting perspective,” said Henninger.
Currently, the club is reading “Ordinary Girls: A Memoir” by Jaquira Díaz which, according to Henninger, they are using to discuss intersectionality between the Latinx communities and LGBTQ+ identities.
“We’re using our meetings as an outlet for some people that maybe haven’t talked about these issues before,” said Henninger.
The club sends out a Google Form for students to express their interest in which month they’d like to participate, and once they get the forms back, they purchase the books for the students. For each story they read, they do a pre-discussion meeting on the first Thursday of the month and then conclude on the last Thursday of the month. Their meetings are complete with food and a safe space to share your thoughts on the reading.
But don’t feel like you are required to finish the reading in time for the last meeting. Club advisor and associate director of CSDI Lyndsey Emmons said the club acknowledges everyone is a busy college student with homework and jobs and sometimes people don’t have time to finish the book in time for the last meeting. She emphasized that students are free to just come in and observe the meetings without the pressure of reading when they’re busy.
According to Emmons, the club also hopes to fundraise in the Boston community and participate in community service. While all of their plans are not completely fleshed out, the club is hoping to help local bookstores.
“We’d love to collaborate with [the community] to work on something and try to get more traction in the community, not just on campus because I think it’d be great to have more resources in different areas of the city besides our own,” said Henninger.
Henninger wants students to know that CSDI is open to everyone, even students outside of their club.
Long Story Short is always there with open arms for new members to join and help them grow their library.
