ECU kicks off NEA Big Read program of events
East Carolina University soon will launch its National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program directed by Dr. Marianne Montgomery, associate professor and chair of the Department of English in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. Montgomery is supporting a community reading program focused on U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s “An American Sunrise.”
The free, public kickoff event will begin at 4 p.m. Feb. 15 at Five Points Plaza at the corner of 5th and Evans in Greenville. In case of rain, the event will be held at the main branch of Sheppard Memorial Library. Join ECU Chancellor Philip Rogers, Harriot College Dean Allison S. Danell, Montgomery, Tribal Chairwoman of the Waccamaw-Siouan Indian Tribe Pamela Young-Jacobs, Executive Director and Tribal Administrator of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina Jamie K. Oxendine, Interim Tribal Administrator of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Tammy Maynor and other community leaders at the event.
The goal of the NEA Big Read, in partnership with Arts Midwest, is to broaden people’s understanding of the world, their communities and themselves through the joy of sharing a good book. ECU and Greenville are one of 61 communities nationwide participating in the 2021-22 NEA Big Read. The kickoff event will include brief remarks from community leaders, a poem read by Young-Jacobs, a song performed by Oxendine and distribution of free copies of “An American Sunrise.”
“We are excited that ECU received this grant to promote and celebrate reading in our community by distributing lots of free books,” Montgomery said. “‘An American Sunrise’ is a wonderful book by the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, and the Big Read events in February and March will offer readers the chance to learn more about Harjo’s poetry and Indigenous lives and cultures today.”
According to Montgomery, Big Read – Greenville also aims to educate the local community about the history of southeastern Indigenous peoples, enrich the community through cultural events related to tribal nations and advance ECU’s mission to serve the public and transform the region.
The community is invited to participate in a full calendar of free, public events that will include reading groups for all ages, a concert, film screening and lectures, and other creative programming, all leading up to a reading by Harjo at ECU at 7 p.m. March 30 in the Main Campus Student Center Black Box Theater.
A total of 500 free copies of Harjo’s “An American Sunrise” will be distributed at the various events, and at Sheppard Memorial Library, the Pitt County Council on Aging and the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center.
Programming partners for ECU’s NEA Big Read – Greenville include the ECU Department of English and Program in Gender Studies, Sheppard Memorial Library, the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Whichard Distinguished Professorship, the ECU School of Music, Down East Flick Fest, Pitt County Council on Aging, ECU’s Ledonia Wright Cultural Center, Oakwood School and the East Carolina Native American Organization.
For additional information about Big Read – Greenville and this event, contact Montgomery at montgomerym@ecu.edu or 252-328-6041. Stay up to date on the full calendar of events by visiting ECU’s Big Read website.
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Contact: Dr. Marianne Montgomery, associate professor and chair of the English department, director, ECU’s Big Read – Greenville, montgomerym@ecu.edu, 252-328-6041