Barbara McConnell
Asilomar Weekend
April 16-18, 2027
One of the major events of the year for the Great Books Council of San Francisco is the spring weekend at the Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey, California, titled The Barbara McConnell Weekend at Asilomar in honor of a beloved Great Books leader. During the weekend there are discussions of poetry, a work of nonfiction, a work of theatre and a work of fiction. The beauty of the area is conducive to stimulating discussions and convivial parties.
We return to the beautiful Monterey Peninsula each spring to immerse ourselves in a weekend of provocative readings, engaging discussions and in-person camaraderie!
Save the date!
The next edition of the annual Barbara McConnell Great Books Weekend at Asilomar will be on
April 16-18, 2027.
Further details about the event, including information on how to register, will be available later in 2026.
During Asilomar weekends in recent years we've discussed the plays Inherit the Wind, Doctor Faustus, A Doll’s House, Nathan the Wise, and Lysistrata; works of fiction The Transit of Venus, Galactic Pot-Healer, Till We Have Faces, The God of Small Things, and Letters From the Earth; and nonfiction works by Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Carl Jung, Virginia Woolf, Ayn Rand, and Azar Nafisi; as well as selected poetry. To see a full list of what's been discussed during our 60+ years at Asilomar, please click this past discussion list.
