Campus Read Books Available At Pius, Medical Center and Law Libraries
The 2027 St. Louis Literary Award programming will be kicking off with the Campus Read novel, Marilynne Robinson's “Jack.”
The Campus Read is an opportunity for Saint Louis University students, faculty and staff to read a specific work by the incoming St. Louis Literary Award recipient and take part in related activities connected to the book and author. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson will be awarded the St. Louis Literary Award in April 2027.
In “Jack,” Robinson tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the prodigal son of Gilead, Iowa’s Presbyterian minister, and his romance with Della Miles, a high school teacher who is also the child of a minister.
Edward Ibur, executive director of the St. Louis Literary Award, said the 1940s St. Louis setting of “Jack” was a highlight for the Campus Read committee.
“That was one of the reasons we thought it would be an especially interesting Campus Read for the SLU community,” Ibur said. “The St. Louis setting also opens up some interesting connections to the city’s history, particularly around race, religion, and the social boundaries of the period.”
Copies of “Jack” are now available for free to the SLU community at the patron desks of all of the University Libraries.
Robinson is the author of “Gilead,” winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award; “Home” (2008), winner of the Orange Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; “Lila” (2014), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; and “Jack” (2020), a New York Times bestseller.
Her first novel, “Housekeeping” (1980), won the PEN/Hemingway Award.
Robinson’s nonfiction books include “The Givenness of Things” (2015), “When I Was a Child I Read Books” (2012), “Absence of Mind” (2010), “The Death of Adam” (1998), and “Mother Country” (1989).
She is the recipient of a 2012 National Humanities Medal, awarded by President Barack Obama, for “her grace and intelligence in writing,” and the inaugural Lewis H. Lapham Award for Literary Excellence from Harper's Magazine (2025).
Robinson will receive the St. Louis Literary Award on April 1, 2027, at the Sheldon Concert Hall. A craft talk will be held April 2 on the campus of Saint Louis University.
St. Louis Literary Award
The St. Louis Literary Award is presented annually by Saint Louis University and has become one of the top literary prizes in the country. The award honors a writer who deepens our insight into the human condition and expands the scope of our compassion. Some of the most influential writers of the 20th and 21st centuries have come to Saint Louis University to accept the honor, including Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Eudora Welty, John Updike, Saul Bellow, August Wilson, Stephen Sondheim, Zadie Smith and Tom Wolfe.
Center for Literary and Creative Arts
The Saint Louis University Center for Literary and Creative Arts fosters inclusive, interdisciplinary, and innovative programming where literature and creative expression thrive. Guided by Jesuit values, the Center amplifies diverse voices, cultivates transformative learning experiences, and connects students, faculty, and the broader community through public discourse, research, and partnerships. By championing the literary and creative arts across disciplines, the CLCA inspires critical dialogue, nurtures emerging artists and thinkers, and enriches the cultural life of St. Louis and beyond—preparing students with the communication, critical thinking, and cultural literacy skills essential for leadership in a complex world.