Show latest news, more from January 2009.
National Endowment for the Arts announces new additions to The Big Read Library
Communities looking to rekindle their love of reading by joining the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reading initiative The Big Read will soon have even more great books to choose from. Today the NEA announced the addition of two new selections to The Big Read library: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez and A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. These titles will be available for Big Read grant projects taking place from September 2010-June 2011.
The NEA is also expanding its American Literary Landmarks program for the 2010-2011 grant cycle to include Chicago poet Carl Sandburg. In partnership with the Poetry Foundation, American Literary Landmarks is the component of The Big Read that celebrates great American poets and the nation's historic poetry sites. Established as a pilot program in 2007, applicants can now choose to celebrate one of the American Literary Landmarks poets -- Emily Dickinson, Robinson Jeffers, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- for their Big Read project.
A complete list of the featured titles in The Big Read library is available at www.neabigread.org.
About The Big Read
The Big Read provides citizens with the opportunity to read, discuss, and celebrate a single book or poet within their communities. To date, the NEA has funded more than 500 Big Read projects in the nation's towns and cities. The initiative supports innovative reading programs in selected communities, providing engaging educational resources for discussing The Big Read books, expansive outreach and publicity campaigns, and an extensive Web site offering comprehensive information about the featured Big Read authors and their works.
The deadline for applying for 2009-2010 Big Read funding is February 3, 2009. Applicants may select from the current 27 books and three poets. Application guidelines are available at www.neabigread.org. The deadline for applying for 2010-2011 Big Read funding, including support for projects celebrating the new books and poet, will be announced at www.neabigread.org at a later date.
Each community's Big Read includes a kick-off, activities devoted specifically to its Big Read selection (e.g., panel discussions, lectures, public readings), events using the book as a point of departure (e.g., film screenings, theatrical readings, exhibits), and book discussions in diverse locations aimed at a wide range of audiences.
The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Additional support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Big Read in the Pacific Northwest is also supported, in part, by a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Educational materials for American Literary Landmarks sites are made possible through the generous support of the Poetry Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.
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