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Watch Bridge Culture Club discussion of ‘Once We Were Here’

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Bridge Culture Club, Bridge Michigan’s bimonthly Michigan-focused book discussion series, resumed Wednesday with a discussion of ‘Once We Were Here’ by author and Grand Rapids native Christopher Cosmos.

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Bridge and more than 70 readers were joined by Cosmos for discussion of his tale of how Greece helped the Allies to win World War II. The historical fiction novel pays tribute to the men and women who fought and sacrificed for their country, for each other and for freedom.

Cosmos discussed his connections to Michigan and to Greece, his inspirations for writing the story, the similarities and differences between writing a novel and writing a screenplay, his development of the structure and characters of the book, Greece’s role in the Allied victory in WWII, as well as his recommendations for what to eat, drink and see in Athens and much more.

Watch the video here:

During the event, Cosmos mentioned a video that was produced in Michigan about Greece's role in World War II. You can view that video here, and for more information about Cosmos' writing and travels in Greece, you can follow him on Instagram @christophercosmos.

Bridge Michigan hosts bimonthly discussions on books with ties to Michigan. Previous sessions have featured "The World According to Fannie Davis," by Bridgett M. Davis, “Arc of Justice,” by Kevin Boyle, “The Women of the Copper Country,” by Mary Doria Russell, “Black Bottom Saints,” by Alice Randall, “Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret,” by Steve Luxenberg, “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” by Dan Egan, “Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley, “Wounds” by Razel Jones and Daniel Abbott, “The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls” by Anissa Gray, “The Other Me” by Sarah Zachrich Jeng, “The Dockporter” by Dave McVeigh and Jim Bolone, “You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair is in Braids” by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang “The King of Confidence” by Miles Harvey, “What the Eyes Don’t See” by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, “American Salvage” by Bonnie Jo Campbell, “We Kept Our Towns Going” by Phyllis Michael Wong, and the film “Bad Axe,” directed by David Siev.

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Stay tuned to Bridge Michigan for an announcement of our next Michigan-related culture club selection and the date of the next discussion in October. The October event will be our last culture club gathering of 2023.

Nearly 500 Bridge members received a free e-copy of ‘Once We Were Here’ so they could take part in our August culture club. If you would like free electronic copies of future culture club selections, join Bridge Club today.

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