River Dragon Book Group – Peace Culture Through Peace Literature w/ World BEYOND War and author Rivera Sun
Peace literature for abolishing war!
Join Author Rivera Sun for a 4-week book discussion about peace literature’s role in abolishing war. Using her latest novel for readers of all ages, River Dragon, as a springboard, you will get to explore the broad themes of militarism, peace culture, the role of the arts in affecting social change, and much more. Mirroring the story – which features a young girl speaking out against the rampant war culture in her fictional world – you and a group of others will reflect together about our experiences in identifying militarism in our culture and trying to oppose it. This discussion group is also a space to think about strategy for the kinds of cultural shifts that help us achieve a World BEYOND War.
River Dragon is a fantasy novel with peace strategies and nonviolent struggle you will recognize from our real world. If you long to abolish war, you will be excited by this peace-waging heroine who uses tools and skills like peacebuilding, unarmed peacekeeping, nonviolent action, and more. As World BEYOND War Board Member Donnal Walter says, “No one pegs the war culture like Rivera Sun, nor cultures of peace. No one describes the inner and outer struggles for nonviolence better; few authors have a broader perspective on peacemaking or a wider range of methods for promoting nonviolence.”
Using River Dragon’s compelling and fun story as a starting point, we will talk about:
- Identifying militarism and resisting it
- Standing up to war culture
- Asserting and building cultures rooted in peace
- Talking with youth and across generations about peace, war, and anti-militarism
- The role of literature, arts, and music in abolishing war and fostering peace culture
- Decoupling the arts from militarism
- Why powerholders are reluctant to oppose war (and what we can do about it)
- The courage to speak up for peace
- The kinds of people who take great risks to stop war
- How radical imagination can help build a World BEYOND War
River Dragon is part of the award-winning Ari Ara Series. Note: You DO NOT need to have read the other books in the series – but they’re so fun, you’ll want to! You will receive a copy of River Dragon by registering for this discussion group. You can get the rest of the series at a discount here.
Support World BEYOND War by joining this book club. This is a limited space, 4-session weekly gathering on zoom with Author Rivera Sun.
Reserve your spot today!
Once you’ve reserved your spot, the author will send each participant a signed paperback copy of the book. We’ll let you know which parts of the book will be discussed each week along with the Zoom details to access the discussions.