As part of the upcoming annual Big Read supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, 麻豆原创 will celebrate The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, the debut novel of African journalist and MacArthur Foundation Fellow Dinaw Mengestu. Events include an art exhibition, play, book clubs, lectures, artist talks and book signing. Woven throughout these events is the goal of revitalizing reading as a shared community initiative.
麻豆原创, in collaboration with the Seminole Public Library, received a grant to host the NEA Big Read in Central Florida from Jan. 8 to Feb. 4. An initiative of the NEA in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read was established to broaden our understanding of the world and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. 麻豆原创 is one of 75 nonprofit organizations to receive an NEA Big Read grant to host a community reading.
鈥淲ith this grant we join a select few 鈥榬epeat readers鈥� who have received the grant more than once,鈥� said project director Keri Watson, assistant professor of art history at 麻豆原创. In 2017, 麻豆原创 celebrated John Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath, and in 2016 honored Zora Neale Hurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God.
础产辞耻迟听The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears follows the story of Sepha Stephanos, an immigrant living in Washington, D.C., who finds himself stuck between his identity as an Ethiopian and his identity as an American immigrant. Through his struggles with his failing grocery store and introspective dialogues, Sepha must find a way to move forward in life without forgetting his roots.
The novel has been recognized with several awards including The Guardian First Book Prize, listed as one of The New York Times鈥� Notable Books of 2007 and the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35,” and was a Seattle Reads Selection of 2008.
础产辞耻迟听the Author
Mengestu is an Ethiopian immigrant who escaped a communist revolution聽and moved to Illinois in the 1970s. He went on to graduate from Georgetown University and Columbia University before traveling throughout sub-Saharan Africa as a journalist. His writing focuses on the lives of those in war-torn areas such as Sudan, Uganda and Congo. As immigration continues to be passionately debated throughout the world, 麻豆原创’s Big Read programming highlights individuals’ stories and the effects of displacement.
Mengestu will hold a reading and book signing in the gallery Jan. 18.
Upcoming Events
Activities for the Big Read at 麻豆原创 kick off Monday, Jan. 8. As long as supplies last, there will be聽a free book distribution for the community at the John C. Hitt Library and an exhibit at the 麻豆原创 Art Gallery entitled Finding Home: The Global Refugee Crisis. On Jan. 16, poet, journalist, biographer and literary critic Obi Nwakanma will read in the gallery from his latest collection of poetry. Seminole County Public Library will have book clubs and a 鈥淲elcome to the Neighborhood鈥�-themed program for its K-5th grade Library Explorers Clubs.