One Book Project
This October & November, The One Book Project (One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern)
is encouraging the entire community to share experiences related to a single book’s
themes through discussions, educational programming, and entertainment. The read is
meant to pull a community together, cross cultural divides, and enhance understanding
of our diversity, all while supporting literacy. Presented by Kern County Library’s One Book Project, CSUB Office of the Provost, Walter
Stiern Library, CSUB General Education Program, Kern Council Teachers of English,
Native & Indigenous Student Coalition Club, Indigenous Faculty & Staff Association,
the Kegley Institute of Ethics, Kern High School District's Kern Learn, CSUB Department
of English, and Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society. Deborah Jackson Taffa’s Whiskey Tender, a 2024 National Book Award Finalist, was also a 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence
in Nonfiction longlisted title. Named one of 2024’s Top 10 books by The Atlantic, Audible, and Time Magazine, her debut was also included on best and notable lists at The New Yorker, Elle, Esquire, NPR, The Washington Post, Oprah Daily, and Publisher’s Weekly. The debut was an Amazon Editor’s Best Choice Book for the year as well. With awards
and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, MacDowell, Hedgebrook,
the Ellen Meloy Foundation, Tin House, A Public Space, the Kranzberg Arts, and the
NY Summer Writers Institute, Deborah is currently working on her second story collection. A citizen of the Quechan (Yuma) Nation and Laguna Pueblo, Deborah earned her MFA in
Creative Writing at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Prior to her job at IAIA,
she taught Creative Nonfiction at Webster University and Washington University in
Saint Louis. She also served as an Executive Board Member with the Missouri Humanities
Council where she was instrumental in creating a Native American Heritage Program
in the state. Editor Emeritus at the literary magazine, River Styx, her writing can be found at The Rumpus, Boston Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, A Public Space, Salon, Huff Post, Prairie Schooner, The Best Travel Writing, The Best of Brevity: Twenty Groundbreaking Years of Flash Nonfiction, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and elsewhere. Her play, “Parents Weekend,” was performed at the Autry Theater’s
8th Annual Short Play Festival in LA. In recent years, Deborah has had the incredible honor of reading a series of poetic interludes for
composer Gary Gackstatter’s Chaco Symphony featuring the Grammy nominated flautist,
R. Carlos Nakai. She will be performing with the symphony in Durango, Colorado, on March 15, 2024.
2025 One Book Project Author
She can be found on various social media sites as @deborahtaffa.
From: deborahtaffa.com 
JOURNEY TO PROGRESS: The Fall 2025 One Book Project Art Exhibit
To participate, complete this online form:
https://csub.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cAdj32dlihQMqqO
Or scan this QR Code:
Proposals are due by September 15th at 5PM
Art submissions will be due by October 10th at 5PM
The exhibit will be held on the second floor of the Walter Stiern Library from October 15th to November 15th
Questions? Contact Kristen Gallant at kgallant1@csub.edu or Rebecca Penrose at rpenrose@csub.edu
For an event flyer, click HERE
Kegley Institute of Ethics Campus Conversation
“From Policy to Practice: The Impact of NAGPRA at CSUB and Across CSUs”
Thursday, October 9
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Walter W. Stiern Library, Dezember Reading Room
Part of the Kegley Institute of Ethics’ Community Conversations series, this panel
discussion will bring together voices from across the CSU system and within CSUB to
reflect on the impact and implementation of the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Topics under discussion will include ongoing efforts
to implement this important legislation as well as future directions for action in
our wider communities and within CSUB. Free and open to the public.
ZOOM and IN-PERSON; Free and Open to the Public
To join this event, click on the following Zoom link: https://csub.zoom.us/j/85838273482
2025 One Book Project Author Keynote Speech
An Evening with Deborah Jackson Taffa
Author of Whiskey Tender
7:00 PM
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
CSUB Icardo Center
Book Discussion - Q&A - Book Signing
Free and Open to the Public
Free Parking in Lot I after 6:00 PM
2025 KCTE One Book Project College Writing Contest
Do you like writing? Do you like winning prizes? Do you like sharing your insights? Then enter the KCTE One Book Project College Writing Contest
Prizes:
1st Place: $300
2nd Place: $200
3rd Place: $100
Prompt: In her memoir, Whiskey Tender, Deborah Jackson Taffa writes, “I’d fallen in love with Native poets, Simon Ortiz, Luci Tapahonso, nila northSun, on my trips to the downtown library, and the more I learned the more I resented the absence of Native wisdom and culture in my formal education. Anytime my teachers talked about Native history, it had to do with the conquest of our people. There was absolutely no mention of our successes. There was, in fact, no mention of us as modern people or as a contributing culture at all. The silencing of our history, of all that we’d sacrificed for the United States, burned in my chest” (246).
Drawing inspiration from Taffa’s powerful words, write an essay exploring your own experiences with cultural representation, historical narratives, or the absence thereof in your education and community.
Your essay should explore themes of cultural identity, history and movement, systems of power, social movements, and equity. Use personal experiences, observations, and if applicable, additional research to support your arguments.
- Essay length: 500 - 1000 words
- Format: Double-spaced, 12-point font
- Citation style: MLA format for any outside sources used
Remember to support your ideas with evidence from Whiskey Tender. Cite specific examples from your experiences and observations to support your points. Your essay should demonstrate critical thinking about the complexities of cultural representation and historical narratives in education and society at large.
Entries must be received electronically by 5 p.m. on Friday, October 10, 2025.
For a copy of the contest flyer, click HERE
For a copy of the contest rules, click HERE
One Book Project Events
See a complete list of One Book Project events.
Past One Book Authors and Books
- Fall 2007 - Julie Otsuka - When the Emperor Was Divine
- Fall 2008 - Firoozeh Dumas - Funny in Farsi
- Fall 2009 - Joseph M. Marshall, III - The Lakota Way
- Fall 2010 - Victor Villasenor - Burro Genius
- Fall 2011 - Wes Moore - The Other Wes Moore
- Fall 2012 - Sandra Cisneros - The House on Mango Street
- Fall 2013 - Rebecca Skloot - The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks
- Fall 2014 - Sonia Nazario - Enrique's Journey
- Fall 2015 - Bob Harris - The International Bank of Bob
- Fall 2016 - Charles Fishman - The Big Thirst
- Fall 2017 - Kathryn J. Edin & H. Luke Shaefer - $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
- Fall 2018 - Baz Dreisinger - Incarceration Nations
- Fall 2019 - William Kamkwamba - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- Fall 2020 - Claire L. Evans - Broad Band
- Fall 2021 - Reyna Grande - A Dream Called Home
- Fall 2022 - Carlotta Walls LaNier - A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School
- Fall 2023 - Rebekah Taussig - Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body
- Fall 2024 - Nicole Chung - All You Can Ever Know
One Book Project Author Event Photo Gallery
