Circe Community Seminar

Event promo image for Creative Santa Fe Circe Community Seminar. An image of a sailboat in the ocean sailing in a quiet water with cloudy night sky which is also reflected in the water. Book cover of Circe by Madeline Miller sits above the text. Date: May 1.
Date and Time
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Location
Santa Fe Public Library Southside Branch

This session is sold-out*. Deep dive into the world of Circe and her growth journey with CrSF Executive Director Sorakamol Prapasiri and St. John’s College Tutor Marsaura Shukla at this community seminar. This seminar is a part of the community engagements of 2024 Santa Fe Reads—a 5-week countywide reading festival presented by the Santa Fe Public Library with support from NEA Big Read.

This experience is conducted in the unique St. John’s College seminar style—fostering collaborative environment for thought exploration among participants. Relish rigorous and joyful conversations with others. Practice how to ask furthering questions, listen deeply, and synthesize ideas. Join us and experience the truest meaning of “conversation”—the journey of turning together.

For the most fruitful experience, we recommend reading the assigned text twice prior to the seminar session. No additional background reading is needed. Discussion will only cover Circe. A copy of Madeline Miller’s Circe is provided to all participants.

This 15-person community seminar will be held at Southside Library. Door opens at 5:15PM. Seminar begins at 5:30PM.

*WAITLIST IS NOW OPEN. EMAIL FELICIA PONCA FOR MORE INFORMATION.

THIS SEMINAR FREE AND OPEN TO ALL. DONATIONS ALWAYS WELCOME!

Meet Your Creative Hosts

Creative Santa Fe Executive Director Sorakamol Prapasiri

Sorakamol Prapasiri  |  Facilitator

Bio

Sorakamol Prapasiri believes we can design for better outcomes and happier humans. Fascinated by Neuroarts, behavioral economics, and the interplay of autonomy and interdependence, you’ll find her on the frontier, prospecting for the incentives that shape human actions. She brings her curiosity, empathy, and purpose to CrSF as its Executive Director.

Sorakamol is a graduate of The Seattle Art Institute’s Graphic Design Department and the St. John’s College Great Books Program. She attributes her ability to instill beauty in every project she leads to her ability to distill complex ideas into their core essences. Prior to her stepping into leadership at Creative Santa Fe (CrSF), she has applied her craft and critical thinking skills to her own brand design practice, Six Blooms, and to multiple community projects she organized—all geared toward strengthening the social fabric, exciting financial investments, and aligning diverse needs. Under her leadership, CrSF has expanded its capabilities to include strategic design support to other organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies who are committed to building vibrant, inclusive, and adaptive communities in Santa Fe and throughout New Mexico.

Summary

ABOUT MADELINE MILLER’S CIRCE

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child–not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world.

Marsaura Shukla  |  Facilitator

Bio

Marsaura Shukla emigrated from India to the United States when she was eleven. She became an avid reader of literature in high school and her love of reading led her to study the Great Books at St. John’s College, where she recieved a B.A. She received her PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School and returned to St. John’s to be on the faculty. Since settling at St. John’s and in Santa Fe, she has dedicated herself to articulating, for herself and her students, how literature and poetry help us think deeply about the world we share. She is currently working on a book length study of Emily Dickinson.

Summary

ABOUT MADELINE MILLER’S CIRCE

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child–not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world.