One Book One Lincoln author visits Lincoln’s community of readers

Amanda Peters signs books for One Book One Lincoln Attendees at Lincoln High School on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Photo by Izzy Lewis.

The literary community of Lincoln and Lancaster County unites under one book each year to share the joy of reading through the One Book One Lincoln project. Since 2002, Lincoln City Libraries has been sponsoring this communal reading program. 

“Without readers, book clubs and people having thoughtful conversations together about books and topics, this whole program never (would have) happened,” Ryan Wieber, the Lincoln City Libraries Director, said. 

The selection process for this year’s One Book One Lincoln started in February. A selection committee narrowed down 133 titles to just three finalists: “A Little Devil in America" by Hanif Abdurraqib, "North Woods" by Daniel Mason and "The Berry Pickers” by Amanda Peters.

From there, the decision was up to the community. The public vote selected “The Berry Pickers” as Lincoln’s book this year. 

To celebrate the culmination of One Book One Lincoln, Peters visited Lincoln High School for an evening of conversation about her book on Oct. 14. 

“The Berry Pickers” is Peters’ debut novel published in 2023. The book has received critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the 2024 Carnegie Medal of Excellence in Fiction. 

“The Berry Pickers” follows a community grappling with the kidnapping of a four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl. Joe, the older brother of the missing girl, must deal with being the last person to see her before she went missing. And Norma, who grows up in an affluent family in Maine, realizes her parents are keeping a secret from her. The story explores concepts of grief and guilt.

Peters is from Nova Scotia, Canada, where she teaches as an associate professor in the English and Theatre Department at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

“I get a lot of heat because people are like, ‘this is supposed to be a mystery,’ and it's not,” Peters said. “It's supposed to be a character study. It's supposed to be one really terrible event that happens, and how do the people that it happened to exist?”

Peters has also written a short story collection, “Waiting for the Long Night Moon,” that will be published this coming January in the United States. Peters said “The Berry Pickers” started out as a short story as well.

“I was like, ‘I can't write a novel, it's so hard,’ even though I wanted to my whole life,” Peters said. “I think I prefer the novel now, just because I can ramble on as much as I want.”

Peters is part of the Indigenous Mi’kmaq Nation, which is based in Maine. Her book and short stories explore her Indigenous identity. 

During her speech, Peters said she hopes her books start conversations and education around the missing and murdered Indigenous women epidemic. She spoke about the Sixties Scoop, a period of time in Canada when Indigenous girls and women were being taken and placed into White families as a method of assimilation. 

“I’m a big fan of the concept that people who read fiction are more empathetic,” Peters said. “It’s because you can put yourself in that situation.” 

Peters also spoke about where her inspiration comes from. For short stories, she said her dreams and negative experiences spark the seeds of ideas. Whereas her novels come more from her imagination. 

“If I didn’t dream, I couldn’t write,” Peters said. 

Additionally, Peters spoke of her literary heroes, mainly John Steinbeck. She partly credits Steinbeck for her own interest in literary fiction and remarked about a trip she took to his house. 

The last ten minutes of the conversation were open to audience questions. Peters gave audience members writing advice and talked more about specific characters. The evening concluded with a book signing, with local bookshop Francie & Finch selling copies for those who didn’t bring their own. 

Published in the Daily Nebraskan, read here.