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Main Page Contact Francisco Duque, 912.961.3173 For Immediate Release NEA Grants $20,000 to AASU for The Big Read in 2007(Savannah, GA-November 16, 2006) Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU) has been awarded a $20,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as part of The Big Read campaign in 2007. AASU is one of 72 communities chosen from throughout the United States to participate in the program that "encourages literary reading by asking communities to come together to read and discuss one book." In 2007, that one book will be "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by the noted African-American novelist Zora Neale Hurston. Under NEA sponsorship, The Big Read will allow AASU to extend the reach of the annual Savannah Read, a program that began three years ago under the leadership of Beth Howells, the university's director of composition. Partnering with the Live Oak Public Libraries, the 18th Annual Black Heritage Festival, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and the Cultural Affairs Division of the City Of Savannah, Armstrong Atlantic will host numerous book discussions, film presentations, staged readings, and other events related to Hurston's novel. All events are free and open to the public. The Big Read is meant to address the national decline in literary reading as documented in the NEA's 2004 landmark survey Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America. The survey showed that less than half of the American adult population now reads literature. "With The Big Read we want to get everyone in a community-from high school kids and office workers to public officials and senior citizens -reading a great book together," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "Our goal is to get people talking about a good novel with the same conviction that they debate the World Series. We want people to feel worse about not reading the book than they do about missing an episode of Lost or CSI." In addition to grants, the NEA also will provide participating communities with a library of free materials, including reader's and teacher's guides for the Big Read novel, an audio guide for the novel featuring distinguished actors and writers, Big Read display materials, and a comprehensive program web site. The kick-off celebration for the Savannah Big Read will be February 11, 2007 at the Black Heritage Festival Day in the Civic Center. Events will continue throughout the community for the next three months. For more information, contact Richard Nordquist, director of The Big Read in Savannah, at nordqudi@mail.armstrong.edu. |
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