What: Orphan Train author Christina Baker Kline to visit the University of Alabama. 

Planned events include a breakfast with students, a book signing, and a public lecture.

Who: Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, this year’s Honors Common Book.

When and Where: There are differing times and locations for Kline’s various planned activities: 

Breakfast with Honors students: Monday, Sept. 25 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. in Gorgas 205. 

Interested students should email the Honors Year One office to RSVP. 

Book signing: Monday, Sept. 25 from 1-2 p.m. in the foyer of Nott Hall. 

Public lecture: Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in Moody Concert Hall.

Why? “What I hope is that it makes the experience of reading The Common Book come alive,” said Alicia Browne, director of college relations for the Honors College. “It’s one thing to read the book and talk with other students, but it’s something different to hear from the source, ‘This is how I created it. This is what I intended the book to mean. This is what I hoped readers got.’ It just really broadens the experience for students.” 

During her visit to the UA campus, author Christina Baker Kline will have a jam-packed schedule. In addition to the events listed above, she will be meeting with smaller groups like creative writing students and Blount Scholars. 

Browne expressed her hope that this mixture of events would benefit both University students and Kline.

“I think what’s wonderful is that we’re exposing a lot of different groups of students to her and she is getting to interact with a lot of different types of students, from our freshmen up to graduates in the creative writing program,” Brown said. “So I hope for both her and the students that it’s a really good mix of people she’s interacting with and that she’s getting a real sense of The University of Alabama community.”