George Floyd was murdered when I was just about finished my Read-All-Fiction-Pulitzers Bucket List quest. It occurred to me that reading and discussing Pulitzer Fiction winners though an inclusive lens could be one of the many journeys needed to make America think and act more inclusively.  I used my Covid lockdown life to read the Pulitzer fiction winners again, this time through an inclusive lens, and create The Pulitzer Book Club.

​

The Pulitzer Book Club aims to make reading a Pulitzer Fiction winner and having dialog about inclusion less daunting, more real, and possibly fun.  Reading and thinking about Pulitzers through an inclusive lens has the potential to heighten mindfulness and lead to inclusive action, including considering all books through the lens of inclusion.
 
A free resource, the Pulitzer Book Club is non-profit and not about making money.  Those who find value in the Pulitzer Book Club are encouraged to support their local library and causes with an inclusive mission.
 
This new, start-up website is in serious need of inclusion. The launch version of The Pulitzer Book Club is content-centric.  The site obviously should be but is not interactive because there’s zero staff and no resources to manage an interactive community and social media presence.  The Pulitzer Book Club is receptive to adoption by an organization with the mindset and resources to take this initiative to the next level. 

​

Imagine the range of insights and bounty of ideas that could be generated if people all over America read for and talk about inclusion.  Imagine the social change that will happen when people act on inclusive reading and thinking. 

Read for Inclusion,
 

Joyce Rivas

Founder, Pulitzer Book Club

P.S. Click on the Inclusion Lessons button below to see one person’s take – mine – on a key message that each Pulitzer Fiction winner communicates about inclusion.

​

Thank You to those who helped create this website, including Travis Morin and Tradewinds Marketing, Lynn Hoban, Ann Jabro and her students, Ross Krumlish, Sheryl Smikle, Diane Greenwood, Patty Rappazzo, Cindy Baum-Baicker, and Eileen McGovern. Special thanks to the generous, smart pioneers who contributed as Featured Readers for the launch of the Pulitzer Book Club. Most of all thanks to my parents for everything, including all of those trips to the library.