Summer 2007 - the Wyoming State Library

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Wyoming ReadsMy ÁntoniaIt’s a Big Read for a big state. This fall,people in 13 of Wyoming’s 23 countieswill all read, discuss and fall in love withthe same book: My Ántonia by WillaCather.It’s all part of The Big Read, a programof the National Endowment for the Arts(NEA) that aims to put great Americanliterature squarely in the forefront incommunities nationwide.My Ántonia is Cather’s classic novel thatexplores the struggle of pioneer life onthe prairie. The story centers on a spiritedBohemian immigrant girl, ÁntoniaShimerda (pronounced AN-ton-ee-ah,stressing first syllable, as in “Anthony”).The story is told through the eyes ofÁntonia’s childhood friend, Jim Burden.Wyoming’s Big Read starts onSeptember 12 when Wyoming PublicTelevision airs the documentary, “WillaCather: The Road is All.” It gets its bigkickoff with several events at WyomingBook Festival on September 15, includinga free giveaway of 1,000 books.From there, The Big Read moves outinto community events in 13 counties:Albany, Campbell, Converse, Fremont,Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Niobrara,Park, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Uinta andWeston. The county library systems areplanning book discussions, living historyperformances, children’s activities, dances,displays and more.They’re giving away even more freebooks for people to “Catch, Read andRelease.” Statewide, more than 4,000books will be released “into the wild” forpeople to read, share and discuss.The Big Read is about how great storiesconnect us. “Yes, this is about reading,”NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, “butit’s also about getting people to leave theirhomes and offices, unplug themselves for14Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007a few hours, and enjoy the pleasures ofliterature with their neighbors.”Like Willa Cather, Burden came west toNebraska from Virginia as a child, a muchdifferent landscape. Go east to GrandIsland, Nebraska and head due south.Almost to the Kansas border is the tinytown of Red Cloud, about 1,000 people.It was Willa Cather’s childhood home andthe model for her fictional town of BlackHawk in My Ántonia.“When you drive to Red Cloud,” hesaid, “you go through that country, andit’s attractive, beautiful country – much asshe describes it. It’s rolling, great grassyprairie – heavy red grass, broken by grainfields. Along with the beauty came wind,summer heat, snowstorms, sickness,injury and isolation that Catherrecognized in her writing.”“Much of the writing aboutthe West is about this newexperience,” he said “Thewriters are telling us aboutbeing really overwhelmedby the land itself. It’s one ofthe things that shape life inthe West – the weather, theopen spaces, the intensity ofblizzards and so forth.”The land may beoverwhelming, but it’s thecharacters that make this booksuch an engaging read. “It’s alwaysÁntonia who is openly at theheart of it,” Roripaugh said.“She undergoes experiencesthat are terribly trying forher, and yet ultimatelywhat we find is acharacter who manages totriumph.”“Willa Cather was atalented writer in telling us a story,”he said. “The number and varietyof characters and differing ethnicbackgrounds brought to life in the bookare part of its strength. We want to seewhat happens to these people – wherethey’re headed in their lives and how it willall work out.”Roripaugh added, “If you read MyÁntonia, you want to read O Pioneers. Ifyou read O Pioneers, you want to go onfrom that to something like The Lost Lady.Her career in American literature becameone that showed the importance the Westcould have. Her success and popularityhelped opendoorsfor
other women writers in the 1920s andlater years.”The Wyoming Center for the Book isone of 117 organizations that receivedgrants to support Big Read programsbetween September and December 2007.Wyoming’s project is supported in partwith funding from the NEA, WyomingCommunity Foundation and Kellogg. TheNEA also provides reader’s and teacher’sguides.Wyoming’s Big Read partners -- thelibraries and the Wyoming School-University Partnership will bring The BigRead into communities across the state.“We see The Big Read as one exampleof the kind of activity vital to a thrivingdemocracy,” said Audrey Kleinsasser,director of the School-UniversityPartnership. “While the book itself isimportant, for us, the conversation,opportunity to make connections, trustbuildingthat ensue are, perhaps, moreimportant.”The Big Read was created to addressthe national decline in literary reading– particularly among the youngest agegroups – found in the NEA’s 2004landmark survey Reading at Risk: A Surveyof Literary Reading in America. Literaryreaders are more likely than non-literaryreaders to perform volunteer andcharity work, visit art museums, attendperforming arts events, and even attendsporting events.“By joining the Big Read,” Gioia said,“these cities and towns are showingthat reading is necessary to the cultural,civic, even economic fabric of theircommunities. They understand thebenefit of having people from differentgenerations and walks of life reading anddiscussing a great book.”People wanting to participate in theWyoming Big Read may check the website at www.wyomingbigread.org or withtheir local libraries for the latest on localevents.The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowmentfor the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the centerof American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read inpartnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Servicesand in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Wyoming’s Big Read isa project of the Wyoming Center for the Book, in partnershipwith Wyoming libraries and the Wyoming School-UniversityPartnership, and with support from the National Endowmentfor the Arts, Wyoming Community Foundation and the KelloggFoundation.THE BIG READ STATE KICKOFFWyoming Public Television broadcast: “Willa Cather: The Road is All.”Wednesday, September 12, 7 p.m.Watch this acclaimed PBS American Masters documentary of Cather’s lifeon a special broadcast by KCWC Wyoming Public Television.WYOMING BOOK FESTIVALSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15“Catch, Read and Release” book giveaway9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Big Read tent in the Wyoming libraries areaStop by while supplies last to pick up your free copy of “My Antonia” toread, discuss and share with others. Books available to the first 1,000people. (Wyoming residents only, please.)Keynote address: On Life, Landscape and Cather10:30 a.m., Wyoming libraries tentEnjoy a special keynote address on Willa Cather and My Antonia withRobert Roripaugh, Wyoming Poet Laureate 1995-2002.Willa Cather living history performance11:15 a.m., Wyoming libraries tentWatch Lynne Swanson bring Cather to life with a first-person living historyperformance. For more than 20 years, Swanson has portrayed a numberof women of the American West, including Cather, Isabella Bird, ElinorePruitt Stewart and others. Swanson will appear around the state at localparticipating Big Read communities in September and October.LOCAL EVENTSBetween September 16 and November 15, these Wyoming county libraries and theirbranches will have book giveaways, discussion groups, living history presentations,movie showings and more!Albany County Public LibraryCampbell County Public Library SystemConverse County LibraryFremont County Public Library SystemJohnson County LibraryLaramie County Library SystemLincoln County Library SystemNiobrara County LibraryPark County LibrarySheridan County Public Library SystemSweetwater County Library SystemUinta County LibraryWeston County LibraryFor programs in your community, visit www.wyomingbigread.org or www.neabigread/communities.php, or check with your local library.Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 15
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Summer 2007 - the Wyoming State Library

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