Mississippi Valley State University has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to promote reading.
MVSU is one of 79 nonprofit organizations nationwide and the only organization in Mississippi to receive the $10,150 NEA Big Read grant for the 2018-19 school year.
Valley will use its grant to host a campuswide reading program around novelist Tayari Jones’ book, “Silver Sparrow,” chosen as a best book of 2011 by O, the Oprah Magazine, Library Journal, Slate and Salon. “Silver Sparrow” is one of many NEA Big Read selections.
The Big Read program showcases a diverse range of contemporary titles, aiming to inspire conversation and discovery.
“This program encourages people to not only discuss a book together, but be introduced to new perspectives, discuss the issues at the forefront of our own lives, and connect with one another at events,” said NEA Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter in a prepared statement announcing the grant awards.
“Silver Sparrow” is the story of a middle-class African-American man in Atlanta with two families. Each is unknown to the other, one hidden and one public. Critic Kevin Wilson of Salon said Jones “reveals the ways in which family both creates and destroys our identities.”
MVSU’s Department of English will collaborate with Academic Affairs, the J.S. White Library, the Distance and Online Education Department, local public libraries, schools, museums and others in sponsoring the Big Read program, which will include a kick-off keynote session, 10 days of discussions centered on the novel and a final presentations session.
Exact dates for Big Read activities on campus have not been solidified but events will kick off on Oct. 1.
More than 1,400 NEA Big Read programs have been funded since 2006 by the NEA, reaching every congressional district in the country. More than 4.9 million Americans have attended an NEA Big Read event.
Local organizations wanting to participate in the MVSU Big Read event should contact Valley’s English department at 254-3453.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
