hanks to a $20,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Annapolis Alive! will conduct a citywide reading of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The program is to be conducted in the Spring of 2008 as part of the 300th anniversary of the city charter and the Big Read, a nationwide reading initiative. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum of Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.
Click here for a Complete Listing of Big Read Events in Annapolis
F. Scott Fitzgerald is related to, and named after, St. Johns College graduate Francis Scott Key. His Maryland roots are deep, spending parts of his life here and is buried in Rockville. More about F. Scott Fitzgerald ...
"The Great Gatsby" Dust Jacket Contest
At The Annapolis Bookstore, 68 Maryland Avenue, they know there are many ways to approach a great story. Dust Jacket art is one. Francis Cugat's painting for the cover of The Great Gatsby is arguably the most notable dust jacket of the 20th century. In a 1924 letter to his editor, Fitzgerald said that he had 'written it [the painting] into' his story. Local artists are invited to submit a new dust jacket design for Gatsby and include a brief paragraph (a sentence or two will suffice) writing their design into Gatsby's story. There will be a $200 prize for the winner. Deadline for submissions is April 25 to the The Annapolis Bookstore, Info: 410 280-2339.
The Humanities Council of Washington, D.C., also will be conducting a Big Read of The Great Gatsby at approximately the same time. Events will be coordinated between the cities to promote a fuller experience of reading.
St. Johns College, Anne Arundel County Library System, the City of Annapolis – and the City of Annapolis Royal, Canada – are joining in the programming.
“It will truly be a Big Read.” said Annapolis Alive! Executive Director Chuck Weikel. “The Great Gatsby is one of the great North American novels of the 20th century. It explores issues of new found wealth and materialism and perceptions of our life’s goals – all relevant to Annapolis today.”
“Readers attend more arts performances, participate in sports and are healthier than non-readers by large factors. Reading has huge community building aspects,” he added.
The Humanities Council of Washington, D.C., will also be conducting a Big Read of The Great Gatsby at approximately the same time. Events will be coordinated between the cities to promote a fuller experience of reading.
Learn more
Put The Great Gatsby in a historical context ...
More resources to help understand the Jazz Age and F. Scott Fitzgerald ...
A Great Gatsby Teachers Guide ...
- from the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Website
Preface
The Great Gatsby may be the most popular classic in modern American fiction. Since its publication in 1925, Fitzgerald's masterpiece has become a touchstone for generations of readers and writers, many of whom reread it every few years as a ritual of imaginative renewal. The story of Jay Gatsby's desperate quest to win back his first love reverberates with themes at once characteristically American and universally human, among them the importance of honesty, the temptations of wealth, and the struggle to escape the past. Though The Great Gatsby runs to fewer than two hundred pages, there is no bigger read in American literature.
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. It is designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, a 2004 NEA report, identified a critical decline in reading for pleasure among American adults. The Big Read aims to address this issue directly by providing citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities.
A great book combines enlightenment with enchantment. It awakens our imagination and enlarges our humanity. It can even offer harrowing insights that somehow console and comfort us. Whether you're a regular reader already or a nonreader making up for lost time, thank you for joining the Big Read.
Dana Gioia
Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Read more on the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Website ...
