Poughkeepsie's Big Read for 2013 features Cynthia Oznick's novella, The Shawl. Comprised of two short stories, "The Shawl" and "Rosa", the novella captures the pain and devastation wracked on Rosa and her family from Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, commonly considered the beginning of the Holocaust. "The Shawl" is set in 1938 and "Rosa" is set 39 years later in Miami, FL.
This year Poughkeepsie's Big Read selection is Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. What is the Big Read? The "Big Read" is an annual event sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts whose purpose is to "restore reading to the center of American culture". A collaboration of local community organizations such as colleges, bookstores and public libraries join together to promote a particular book. Last year the book discussed was F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and this year it is Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Dutchess Community College has lead a compare/contrast discussion of the film adaptation of the book earlier this week and is also planning on hosting a discussion on "how Harlem grew to be considered the capital of Black America" on Thursday evening, October 15th at 7pm. George Stevens, Professor of History and Department Chair, is leading this talk on the history of New York City's African American community, so come and participate. The discussion will be held in Hudson Hall, room 406.
The reader's guide for Their Eyes Were Watching God can be found here as well as a hard copy may be picked up at the Circulation desk in the Ritz Library.
Check it out - the BIG READ is here! What is the Big Read? The Big Read is an annual event which spans the United States that encourages reading. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, different organizations within a community who support reading pick a classic work of literature to read and then discuss. This year in Poughkeepsie the book of choice is F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic, The Great Gatsby. Local colleges, stores, libraries and schools are part of this collaboration, including Dutchess Community College. We have multiple copies of The Great Gatsby in the Francis U. and Mary F. Ritz Library, so stop by and grab a copy!
