Until November 15, local libraries in 13 counties will have book discussions, living history performances, children's activities, dances, displays and their own book giveaways. Sen. Mike Enzi and his wife Diana, longtime supporters of reading and literacy, are serving as honorary co-chairs of Wyoming's Big Read project.
Here's more info on Big Read:
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation announced that Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, is the first grant recipient in a pilot initiative, a component of the NEA's Big Read, to celebrate great American poets and the nation's historic poetry locales. Longfellow's Wayside Inn will receive an inaugural NEA Chairman's Extraordinary Action grant of $15,000 to support a community-wide program to encourage multi-generational reading of the poetry of New England writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).NEA Chairman Dana Gioia and Poetry Foundation President John Barr announced the grant on September 26, 2007, during an evening keynote presentation on Longfellow at Cambridge Forum at the First Parish Church, co-sponsored by the Longfellow National Historic site, the Poetry Foundation, and the Paul Revere House. This marks the second partnership for the NEA and the Poetry Foundation, which jointly present Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. Now in its third year, this national arts education program encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high school students across the country.
"I am delighted to announce this new expansion of the Big Read to celebrate the deep connection between this great American poet and communities in which he lived. It's fitting that we announce this new program in Longfellow's own home in the heart of literary Massachusetts, a state with an extraordinary literary heritage," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "Longfellow's poetry has helped to preserve and popularize much of that early heritage, and I look forward to working with the Poetry Foundation on further projects to reacquaint Americans with the depth of our nation's literary heritage."
Poetry Foundation President John Barr said, "Two hundred years of American history and culture found voice, face, and culmination in the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The Poetry Foundation is delighted to join with the NEA in celebrating the work of this major American poet."
The Wayside Inn will kick off its Longfellow celebration on February 27, 2008, the poet's 201st birthday, with a keynote presentation. The program will continue through the April 19 Patriot's Day holiday, which commemorates the historic ride by Paul Revere immortalized in Longfellow's poem "The Landlord's Tale" from his collection Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863). The Wayside Inn will host an array of activities throughout those six weeks, including community reading groups, and develop an on-line Longfellow Library with the poet's work and curriculum materials for teachers.
"The Trustees of Longfellow's Wayside Inn are ecstatic about this opportunity that has come from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. It is a great opportunity to educate our own community about the importance of the Wayside Inn in Longfellow's life and works and to remind people of his prominence as a poet," said Frederick M. Pryor, President of Longfellow's Wayside Inn's Board of Trustees. "We are working with Project Director Cindy Hall Kouré to provide fun and engaging programming that will reintroduce Longfellow's poetry to as many people and groups throughout Sudbury as possible."
Planned events also include a three-part lecture series with noted Longfellow historians and biographers, a lifelong learning course sponsored by the Sudbury Senior Center, and a musical presentation of Longfellow's poetry. Sudbury public elementary, middle, and high schools will participate by incorporating the poet's work into their curricula, hosting cultural assemblies, and presenting student-created multimedia projects.
The NEA will provide the Inn with supplementary materials -- underwritten by the Poetry Foundation -- similar to those created for the agency's national Big Read program. These materials include reader's and teacher's guides to Longfellow's works and a promotional poster. These materials also will be available to the public at two additional Longfellow historic sites: the Longfellow House (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and the Wadsworth-Longfellow House (Portland, Maine).
The NEA and the Poetry Foundation expect to announce additional grants for site-based poetry programs this fall. In addition, it's expected that a competitive phase of the program will launch at the conclusion of the pilot phase.
