On Thursday, Sept. 15, Philip Weinstein, a professor of English at Swarthmore College and a part-time resident of Aquinnah, will lead the first of four in a series of book discussions entitled the Fictions of Colonial Encounter. Each discussion will focus on a particular novel that relates in some way to the idea of colonial empires, and the effects of their gradual decline.

Next Thursday’s lecture will focus on The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and take place at the Aquinnah Public Library.

The subsequent discussions are as follows: A Passage to India by E.M. Forster on Nov. 3 at the Chilmark Public Library; Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe on Nov. 16 at the Vineyard Haven Public Library; and The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta on Dec. 15 at the Oak Bluffs Public Library.

All of the lectures are from 4 to 5:30 p.m. except the one held on Nov. 16 which begins at 7 p.m.

For more details, call 508-645-2314.