“Other than a book being turned into a popular movie nothing brings readers to a book like Oprah,” said Dawn Davis, editorial director of the Amistad imprint of News Corp.’s HarperCollins Publishers. [...] “She brings a variety of readers to a variety of books. Her impact is immeasurable.”

Photo from Booktagger.com

Deep breath, everyone.

Personally, I have some hesitations about Oprah’s book club, especially when it steps beyond promoting literature and starts promoting lifestyle; this gets at some of the reasons why. But let’s give credit where credit is due: the fact that Oprah devotes time and energy to promote reading and literature is nothing short of amazing. Edwidge Danticat, MacArthur fellow and Oprah book club author, offered these insights into Oprah’s success:

When she calls to tell you that your book has been selected for the book club, she sounds so excited that you feel as though she’s both your ideal reader and your biggest cheerleader. The kind of excitement she showed for these books was contagious. I think that’s why so many people took a chance on books that otherwise they might have never picked up. [...] [She] has had such a powerful impact on publishing not only because she helps sell books, but because she makes reading seem democratic, within everyone’s reach, and also a lot of fun.

Even so, repeat after me: the end of Oprah’s Book Club is not the death knell of publishing. Galleycat offers an argument for publicists to get a grip.

Also be sure to check out Eileen Pollack’s wonderful essay for CNN.com about working with Uwem during his time at The University of Michigan, where he received his MFA in Creative Writing in 2006. In addition to discussing what it was like to have Uwem in the classroom as one of her students, she also describes how her initial hesitancy to bring a priest into the program–due in part to how other students might react to a clergyman assessing their writing–disappeared after his first day on campus:

If I still felt apprehensive about having a priest in my workshop, that anxiety vanished when Uwem Akpan walked in the room. Rather than wear his clerical garb and collar, Uwem showed up in a blue and maize University of Michigan sweatshirt. With his wide, gap-toothed smile, wall-shaking laugh, disarming candor and gleeful giggle, he exuded magnetic charm.

Other highlights from the essay include descriptions of Uwem’s experience auditing a seminar on Holocaust literature, the time he accompanied Eileen to her temple for the Jewish New Year, and how The New Yorker ended up publishing his very first story. But above all it is a warm and generous portrait of a writer whose vision, optimism, and curiosity has the ability to inspire nearly everyone he meets. This was certainly true for her, certainly true for those of us in the program who got to know him, and will certainly be true for readers of his wonderful story collection. So don’t miss Eileen’s essay or Oprah’s discussion with Uwem about his work.

You can also read a 2008 interview I conducted with Uwem for Granta here.