‘The Call of the Wild’ is Area’s Selection for Big Read Project

The Writer’s Voice of the Billings YMCA announced that it has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to host The Big Read in at libraries and schools in Yellowstone, Carbon, Big Horn and Stillwater counties. YMCA Writer’s Voice is one of 208 libraries, municipalities, and arts, culture, higher education, and science organizations to receive a grant to host The Big Read from September 2008-June 2009.

The Big Read gives communities the opportunity to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 23 selections from American and world literature. The Big Read in this area will focus on Jack London’s American masterpiece The Call of the Wild. Activities will take place between October 11 and November 15, 2008.

The latest Big Read grantees represent 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. To date, the NEA has given more than 500 grants to support local Big Read projects.

The YMCA Writer’s Voice received a $10,000 grant for The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.

The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment. The kick-off the program will be October 17 -18, 2008, at the High Plains BookFest. The YMCA Writer’s Voice and the Billings Cultural Partners are presenting the 6th Annual High Plains BookFest: The Call of the Wild.

The 2008 BookFest will focus on contemporary regional writers whose work explores the theme of wilderness both as subject matter and as metaphor. Confirmed participants include Tim Cahill, Pam Houston, Steven Rinella, Gary Ferguson, Pete Fromm, Lois Red Elk, Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, David Romtvedt, Michael Engelhard, Alan Kesselheim and many other regional writers.

The BookFest will include public readings, panel discussions and hands-on workshops for aspiring writers. The BookFest will engage new audiences, and foster conversations about how literature addresses the unique challenges, risks and rewards of living in the “wild” West.

Additional support for The Big Read in Billings comes from grants from the Charles M. Bair Family Trust and the Billings Community Foundation.

“Everything the NEA does we do in partnership. I am delighted to announce our 208 new partners in The Big Read. Some are new to the program, some are returning, but all of them have answered the call to action to get our country reading again,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia.

The selected organizations will receive Big Read grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 to promote and carry out community-based reading programs featuring activities such as read-a-thons, book discussions, lectures, movie screenings, and performing arts events. Participating communities also receive high-quality, free-of-charge educational materials to supplement each title, including Reader’s, Teacher’s, and Audio Guides.

“With this latest round of grants, I am proud to say that The Big Read has supported more than 500 public library partnerships,” said Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the NEA’s lead federal partner for The Big Read. “Through this program, public libraries continue to demonstrate their value in communities as centers of engagement, literacy, and lifelong learning. I am particularly delighted by the innovative public programming born out of library and museum collaborations.”

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Big Read in the Pacific Northwest is supported, in part, by a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.

For more information about The Big Read please visit www.neabigread.org

The YMCA Writer’s Voice seeks to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for contemporary literature of our region and to provide free and open dialogue between writers and readers.