Program/Grant: NEA Big Read

To present a youth production of the play The House on Mango Street adapted by Amy Ludwig, based on the book of the same name by Sandra Cisneros.

Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc. (AGAR) will conduct an NEA Big Read, "Exploring 'Homegoing' in Amherst County, Virginia." Community embers will read historical novel "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyazi, who has been invited to speak virtually Mary Helen Cochran Library. the Big Read theme is "Where We Live." Using literature, dance and history, we will explore the lives of Amherst African- Americans.

"Our Towns, Our Gateway" is a community-created showcase of our contiguous rural Kentucky counties through the lens of Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" with a multilingual staged production, book discussions, and a multidisciplinary arts exhibition. The program celebrates our area's diversity and cultural contributions, encouraging citizens to appreciate unique beauties in everyday life.

MOCA will curate a series of programming including book and panel discussions, immersive performances, creative writing workshops, and a special exhibition on “Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu. This series will engage local artists and community organizations, connecting past and present through dialogues and personal histories on themes of living in Chinatowns and the immigrant experience.

The Office of Institutional Equity & Diversity provides programming, services, and educational opportunities fostering inclusion and equal access. Campus and community partners will use Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body, to facilitate inclusive programs and educational opportunities to the Hampton Roads/Eastern Shore areas to address accessible healthcare.

Broward County Library's NEA Big Read project invites the entire community to join a vibrant cultural celebration inspired by the novel 'To Live' by Yu Hua. Engage in diverse activities like a community festival, book discussions, art workshops, film screenings, writing workshops, and more, fostering a connection between art, culture, and stories for all ages.

Salina Reads 2025 is a community reading series focusing on the theme "Where We Live: Stories of the History and People of Our Community" as inspired by the novel, True Grit by Charles Portis. The goal of the series is to strengthen community connections by widening perspectives and deepening understanding about differing points of view through literature, shared experience and discussion.

The Fitz Center for Leadership in Community at the University of Dayton, in collaboration with Dayton Metro Library, Daybreak Dayton, the African American Visual Artists Guild, and the Paul Laurence Dunbar House Historic Site, will offer assorted public programming in conjunction with a community-wide reading of Yaa Gyasi’s book, “Homegoing,” from September 18, 2024, through May 18, 2025.

New York Irish Center will partner with 10 organizations, including Hunter's Point Library, to explore Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake.” Activities include 19 events; 18 presenters, musicians, writers, and other talent (3 at more than 1 event); and distribution of 690 books. From Sept. 2024 - June 2025. Includes five national podcasts, and recording and uploading select events on social media.

Just Buffalo Literary Center will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros with a diverse array of reading and writing workshops that increase representation and celebrate the depth of Hispanic and Latino culture in Buffalo and Erie County today.