The Big Read: Boston
Their Eyes Were Watching God

A complete list of all events open to the public for the spring 2009 Big Read:Boston project can be found here.

This spring 25 organizations will be producing more than 100 activities and event in celebration of the book. You can see a complete list of all these events, including those NOT open to the public here

If you weren't able to attend our Kick-Off event on February 12th, you can check out the opening remarks by WUMB Radio's talk show host, Janis Pryor here on You Tube. Photos from the event will be available soon.

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4-29-09. HIGH SCHOOL QUIZ SHOW PIT THE BOYS AGAINST THE GIRLS. At last night’s Big Read: Boston event, two local high schools squared off in a game show style competition to see which team remembered the most details about Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God." The fast-paced event pitted the boys from Boston College High School against the girls from Elizabeth Seton Academy and no one could have predicted the exciting, down-to-the-wire finish.

Held in the ballroom at UMass Boston with a giant TV screen behind the stage, two game show podiums complete with buzzers and bells, and a TV camera recording every moment, the event took on the air of a live network game show. 31 boys and 29 girls gathered onstage in groups of five, hands poised to be the first to hit the buzzer. The room was filled with cheers and groans as the scores mounted for the correct answer (or decreased for the wrong answer) in increments of 100. The lead score volleyed back and forth throughout the entire game and at one point, the girls came back from a 700 point deficit to take the lead by 300 points.

As the host drew near the end of the 130 questions, it became apparent that this was anyone's game to win or lose. With the score knotted at 2400 to 2400 and just one question left, the pin-drop silence was broken by ear-piercing cheers as a student from one of the two schools hit the buzzer and shouted out the correct answer.

Which school won? Watch the video here of the game show to find out the answer!!

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WORLD'S LEADING HAITIAN-AMERICAN AUTHOR TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC TELECONFERENCE on April 22nd. Edwidge Danticat, born in Haiti and widely regarding to be the leading Haitian-American author today, will make a rare appearance on Wednesday, April 22, at UMass Boston. The 1:30pm event will be a live, big-screen teleconferenced interview with the Haitian-American author, and the public is invited. The event is part of The Big Read: Boston, a national reading initiative presented by UMass Boston’s public radio station, WUMB 91.9FM.

Danticat wrote the insightful foreword to the 2006 edition of "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Danticat is perhaps best known for her novel, "Breath, Eyes, Memory" in which she speaks of four generations of Haitian women who must overcome their poverty and powerlessness. She says that memories of her time in Haiti are still quite strong in her mind, and that her love of Haiti and all things Haitian continue to be a deep influence in her writing.

Born in Port-au-Prince in 1969 and raised by an aunt because her parents had moved to Brooklyn, New York, Danticat absorbed the Haitian practice of storytelling, common at the time because presentation of oral literature emphasized community inclusion. Her books, written after she had moved to Brooklyn to rejoin her parents, transport the reader into the heart of Haiti's culture. We are touched by the impoverished house servants and farm laborers in "The Farming of Bones" and by the pain and longing of two young Haitian lovers, desperate to escape Haiti in a leaky, overloaded boat, as told in one of the short stories from "Krik? Krak!"

As a child growing up in a dictatorial state, Danticat says, "I always dreaded the pounding I heard at some of my neighbors' doors at night, when many were yanked from their beds never to be seen again." She has been a strong advocate for detainee rights and the elimination of torture in her homeland and has testified in this regard before Congress.

The realization that she could write and had stories to tell blossomed after she graduated from Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn and entered Barnard College in New York. There, she received a BA in French literature and went on to earn an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University. This thesis became the basis for her novel "Breath, Eyes, Memory" which, four years later, became an Oprah's Book Club selection.

At UMass Boston, Danticat will be interviewed from her home in Miami on a large teleconferencing screen set up in the UMass Boston Media Center, Lower Level Healey Library. The moderator will be Barbara Lewis, Director, UMass Boston Monroe Trotter Center for the Study of Black Culture. The event will begin promptly at 1:30pm. Space is limited; RSVP in advance required at 617-287-6900 or bigread@umb.edu.

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What is The Big Read? WUMB Radio is one of more than 100 organizations nationwide, recently awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to participate in that organization's annual initiative called The Big Read. It is the largest federal reading program in U.S. history. The Big Read answers a big need. Reading at Risk a 2004 NEA Report, found that book reading has reached an all time low among Americans of every age.

What will Boston read? After last year's successful Big Read: Eastern Massachusetts with To Kill A Mockingbird, WUMB Radio decided to apply for a Big Read grant for a second year and we were recently notified we would receive an award. The grant provides funding for WUMB Radio, in partnership with several other organizations, to host a Big Read celebration of one of 16 classic novels from January-June 2009. After surveying the UMass Boston campus and WUMB's listeners, we have chosen Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Ms. Hurston was an important literary figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s when a creative explosion of literature, music, drama, dance, and visual art emerged from that New York neighborhood. Her book chronicles the amazing life and journey of an African American woman in her early 40s named Jamie Crawford and is set in the 1930s Deep South as she learns to take charge of her own destiny.

Who are the Boston Partners? In addition to WUMB Radio, primary partners include: the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture, the Adams Street Branch of the Boston Public Library and Healey Library at UMass Boston. We expect dozens of other local organizations to also join in this initiative.

How you can participate - if you are part of a local organization. Organizations selected to participate in The Big Read: Boston receive reader's guides, teacher's guides and audio for the novel, an online organizer's guide for running a successful Big Read program, and access to a comprehensive Big Read Web site. Each local initiative is expected to include events, such as read-a-thons, book discussions, film screenings, library & museum exhibits, and other interesting activities aimed at avid and lapsed or reluctant readers alike. More details here soon. Support may available to a number of greater Boston organizations to help organize associated events. This support may be in the form of copies of the book, a facilitator to lead book discussions or a small grant to produce activities. All events will be publicized on WUMB Radio and through a special Web site to promote this project.

Events. WUMB Radio and its partners and collaborators are planning several special initiatives throughout the six months to include a radio program, book giveaways and more. Other events will be coordinated by WUMB's various partners. All events will be listed on the Web page in a special calendar. The list of Big Read: Boston events and activities will be available on this Web page and as part of a daily calendar heard on one of WUMB's many radio transmitters throughout Eastern Massachusetts.

Kick-Off Event. A big kick-off event is scheduled for February 12th at UMass Boston. Check back here soon for more details.

How you can participate - if you are an individual. Plan to read the book (photo right: NEA Chairman Dana Gioia is reading the book)! Copies of the book along with Reader's Guides & Audio Guides produced by the NEA will be available at participating libraries and community organizations across Boston. A list will be available after the first of the year.

Schools and Libraries. We particularly would like to see schools and libraries to get involved. Boston-area libraries will be able to receive a few copies of the book as well as copies of the Reader's Guides to distribute, and Audio Guides to lend. An online teacher's guide is available here:

• Introduction
• Schedule/Lesson Plans
• Capstone Project Ideas
• Essay Topics
• Additional Resources
• NCTE Standards
• Credits

More info WUMB Radio and the University of Massachusetts Boston are delighted to have the opportunity to take the lead role in organizing this exciting initiative. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help out, e-mail us at bigread@umb.edu.

Elisa Birdseye (left), Librarian - Adams Street Branch of the Boston Public Library, Dana Gioia - Chairman National Endowment for the Arts, Barbara Lewis - Director Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture, and WUMB General Manager Pat Monteith (right) Photo by Doug Knutson. Eliza, Barbara and Pat were in Minneapolis recently for a training session on how to coordinate The Big Read: Boston program.

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WUMB-FM at the University of Massachusetts is Boston's National Public Radio (NPR) music station and has been on the air since 1982. Broadcasting over a network of five radio stations in Eastern Massachusetts with a reach of 1.6 million people, the station maintains a worldwide presence via the internet. WUMB is dedicated to produce, acquire and disseminate high quality, diverse and valued public service programming to audiences interested in expanding their horizons and perspectives, and who enjoy the arts and cultural experiences. The radio station serves as a local and national resource for cultivation, promotion and preservation of various genres of folk music.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts - both new and established - bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov.

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