Let’s Talk About It will focus on ‘The Chosen’

“The Chosen,” by Chaim Potok, will be the topic at the Let’s Talk About It Friendship book discussion series scheduled Thursday.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Carnegie Library Town Hall, Southwest 5th and C. The event is free and open to the public.

The book series “Friendship” is exploring friendship and its dynamic and multifaceted nature, revealing how relationships shape personal growth, self-awareness and emotional resilience. Through different stages of life — from childhood to adulthood — friendship serves as both a mirror and a bridge, reflecting individual struggles while connecting people to others in meaningful ways. Rooted in shared activities, deep emotional bonds, or even silence, friendship challenges people to balance solitude with communion.

Potok’s “The Chosen” follows the friendship between two Jewish boys in 1940s Brooklyn: Reuven, a Modern Orthodox Jew, and Danny, a Hasidic Jew. Despite their differences, they navigate faith, family expectations and personal growth.

This discussion will be led by Arts & Humanities Administrator Jason Poudrier, a 2018 Pat Tillman Scholar, novelist, poet, and Iraq War Purple Heart recipient. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in English education at the University of Oklahoma and is an award-winning author of “Red Fields” and “In the Rubble at Our Feet.” His work has appeared in World Literature Today and Blue Streak, and has earned recognition in various fiction and poetry contests.

Let’s Talk About It is being sponsored by the City of Lawton’s arts and humanities division and McMahon Auditorium Authority. The series is a project of Oklahoma Humanities, with funding and support from The Kirkpatrick Family Fund and Oklahoma City University.