Brooklyn’s Big Read
| October 7, 2009 | ||
| 3:30 pm | to | 5:00 pm |
| October 10, 2009 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 3:00 pm |
On reading this press release (excerpted below) I certainly hope that Brownstone Books is stocking up on copies of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451! If not, you can get it at Amazon.com. Please don’t confuse it with the film of the same name by François Truffaut or the one by Michael Moore (that one’s Fahrenheit 911.) Or if you don’t want to buy it, get it out of the library–there should be several copies available at the BPL.
If you haven’t heard of The Big Read before, it’s an event sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in which members of a community are encouraged to read the same book and participate in events and discussions about it.
Weeksville Heritage Center will launch its Big Read program in celebration of Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 and the speculative fiction genre with a Community and Press Event on Wednesday, October 7 at 3:30pm at 1698 Bergen Street, between Buffalo and Rochester Avenues. The Big Read in Brooklyn is presented in partnership with Brooklyn Public Library and its Macon Branch and Boys & Girls High School. This will be the only Big Read program operating in the entire borough of Brooklyn in 2009/2010.
“We are so happy the NEA has again awarded Weeksville The Big Read grant which allows us to partner with Boys & Girls High School and Brooklyn Public Library for a second year.” said Pamela E. Green, Executive Director of Weeksville Heritage Center. “This year with a focus on Fahrenheit 451 and the speculative fiction genre, we will be able to solidify our programming and expand it to reach a bigger audience.”
“Brooklyn Public Library is excited to partner with Weeksville Heritage Center to celebrate and promote reading,” says Dionne Mack-Harvin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Public Library. “Reading is a tool that enriches lives, and through The Big Read, we hope to bring people together to exchange ideas and foster a lifelong love of learning and literacy.”
Brooklyn is one of 268 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from September 2009-June 2010. To date, the NEA has funded more than 800 Big Read programs in the nation’s towns and cities. From October 2009 our community will celebrate Fahrenheit 451 and the speculative fiction genre with a full calendar of events including an October 10 (Saturday) lecture with Sheree R. Thomas in which she will discuss African American speculative fiction and Afro-Futurist communities. The lecture will take place at Weeksville Heritage Center at 1 pm and is free and open to the public.
For more information on this event, please contact Erin McMonagle – 718-756-5250 x312 – erin@weeksvillesociety.org.
Have you ever participated in one of these Big Read events? I’m thinking it’s about time I tried it. I was 12 when I read Fahrenheit 451 and it wouldn’t hurt me to re-read it by any means. Plus, I admit, I want to learn more about Afro-Futurist communities.