November 28, 2007

National Endowment for the Arts: The Big Read

The Big ReadI will be participating in THE BIG READ, a community-wide reading grant project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and focusing on Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, which will include book and film discussions, cultural programs, panel presentations and Mah Jong games.


November 29 - 7pm
Between Two Worlds: Writing about the Immigrant Experience in America
Broward County Main Library
Panel discussion moderated by Sun-Sentinel Book Editor Chauncey Mabe.
Panelists include: Authors Diana Abu-Jaber, Tara Kai and Ana Menendez and poets Richard Blanco and
Geoffrey Philp.



THE BIG READ
is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The Big Read is presented locally by the following partners: Florida Center for the Book, Broward County Library and Broward Public Library Foundation, Community Foundation of Broward, Organization of Chinese Americans, Coral Springs Chinese Cultural Association, Florida Center for the Literary Arts and Miami Book Fair International.

2 comments:

the prisoner's wife said...

this is a good thing, Geoffery.

i was listening to NPR last week (i've just recently gotten addicted lol) and they did a brief story about how Americans aren't reading anymore. they said that on average, adults read only 7 (!!!) minutes a day for pleasure. i am alarmed. i recently started requiring my students (7th & 8th graders) to read independently and keep a long. you can't IMAGINE how many complaints i hear ("reading is boring!"), but how desperately they need to read. they also said that here in California, only 3% of inmates are proficient readers. i look at my students struggling to read even the most basic words & phrases, and i'm afraid.

so this right here, is a great thing!

bless.

Geoffrey Philp said...

Give thanks, Prisoner's Wife.

I was very happy to be a part of this program.

My wife, who teaches 2nd grade, has teamed up with another teacher and so far their students have read over 400 books in the accelerated reading program.

Yes, it is a struggle, but if we can expose them to the life of the mind, we will, I think, help them to move from the cycle of poverty into leading meaningful lives.