The Big Read - D.C.

The Great Gatsby and The War of Ideas

2008-05-20T15:21:00.003-04:00

The Big Read – D.C. aims to prove that there’s more to the story than just the city book and certainly THE GREAT GATSBY is no exception.

Little did we know THE GREAT GATSBY was one of many titles that introduced the paperback book to the American publishing scene. This cultural and consumer phenomenon was launched by none other than the United States Armed Services.

Between 1943 and 1947 nearly 123 million copies of 1,322 titles of these flat, wide, and very packetable paperbacks were distributed to U.S. Armed Forces around the world according to John Y. Cole of the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book in his Introduction to a collection of essays for Books In Action The Armed Services Editions, released in 1984.

The Council of Books in Wartime was a consortium of trade book publishers, librarians, and booksellers formed in 1942 to contribute to the “war effort of the United Peoples” through books during World War II. This “war effort” was also part of the “war of ideas” in Europe. These paperback books not only made their way into the hands of soldiers and U.S. military personnel overseas, but also nationals in Europe especially occupied Europe to counteract the Nazi propaganda and censorship – a response to the book burnings that began in 1933.

The U.S. wartime campaign launched the “war of ideas” with slogans like “The Nazis Burned These Books: But Free Americans Can Still Read Them” and “Books are Weapons.”
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s traveling exhibit, “Fighting the Fires of Hate” explores this era which includes a list of banned authors.

At the time of its Armed Services Edition reprint, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY appeared to be coming out of a publishing slump – not a best seller. It’s not surprising to find it among known and lesser-known titles (as of today) reprinted by the Council of Books in Wartime. Also noted - it appears no books authored by African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American writers prior to 1943 were part of the Armed Services Editions reprints. This blog welcomes feedback or more information about the Armed Services Editions.

Here’s a partial list of titles from the Armed Services Editions project (a full list is available in the Library of Congress document mentioned earlier. * = Big Read title):

BELLAMANN, HENRY. King's Row
BENEFIELD, BARRY. The Chicken-Wagon Family
BENSON, SALLY. Meet Me in St. Louis
BRONTE, CHARLOTTE. Jane Eyre
ROWNING, ELIZABETH BARRETT, and ROBERT BROWNING. Love Poems
BURROUGHS, EDGAR RICE. Tarzan of the Apes
CAIN, JAMES M. The Postman Always Rings Twice
CATHER, WILLA. My Antonia*
CHANDLER, RAYMOND. The Big Sleep
DICKENS, CHARLES. Oliver Twist
DINESEN, ISAK. Winter's Tales
DU MAURIER, DAPHNE. Rebecca
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Other Stories
GOODMAN, JACK. The Fireside Book of Dog Stories
GOODMAN, JACK, and ALAN GREEN. How to Do Practically Anything
GREENE, GRAHAM. The Ministry of Fear
HEYWARD, Du BOSE. Star Spangled Virgin
JACKSON, CHARLES. The Lost Weekend
LONDON, JACK. The Call of the Wild*
MAUGHAM, W. SOMERSET. The Razor's Edge
PORTER, KATHERINE ANNE. Selected Short Stories
STEINBECK, JOHN. The Grapes of Wrath*
THOREAU, HENRY D. Walden
THURBER, JAMES, and E. B. WHITE. Is Sex Necessary?
TUCKER, SOPHIE. Some of These Days
TWAIN, MARK. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer*
VIDAL, GORE. Williwaw
WELLS, H. G. The War of the Worlds

First Lady Laura Bush to serve as Honorary Chair for The Big Read - D.C.

2008-05-08T22:17:00.004-04:00

The day of the kickoff (April 24), the Humanities Council of Washington, DC received a phone call from The White House that First Lady Laura Bush would serve as honorary chair for the city read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY aka The Big Read - D.C. 2008. As a former teacher and librarian, Mrs. Bush has demonstrated her passion for all things related to books and reading through numerous initiatives.

Her commitment to advocating reading as a lifelong learning tool is close to our hearts at the Humanities Council, said Joy Ford Austin, Executive Director, Humanities Council.

Mrs. Bush currently serves as the national chair for the Big Read.

Read more about it in the media release and her letter.

We are happy to have Mrs. Bush to be part of our Big Read story for 2008.

The Great Gatsby [student] Essay Contest: Secrets, Goals and Dreams

2008-04-23T20:42:00.003-04:00

SECRETS, GOALS AND DREAMS
This year the PEN/Faulkner Writers in Schools essay contest for the Big Read - D.C. is accepting BOTH written and video essays based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Give them 3 minutes (video/digital) or 1,000 words.

The deadline is Monday, May 12th. First prize is $300 to both the best essay and best video. $100 for runners-ups in each format.

The contest is open to all high school students in grades 10-12 in Washington, D.C. public or public charter high schools.
For the contest, students are asked to write a 1,000-word essay, or produce a 3-minute video that answers one of the following questions:

Question 1: Dishonesty is an underlying theme in Gatsby: Many characters in the novel have secrets about who they really are, where they come from, who they really love, even about crimes and misdeeds they have committed. Think about secrets that you or people in your life have had. These don’t have to be terrible or upsetting secrets, just things that are kept private for whatever reason. Write about the way one secret or personal fact has changed you in some way—either forced you to learn a lesson, helped you grow to become a better person, or helped you see the world in a different light.

Question 2: Although Jay Gatsby’s life comes to a tragic end, many of his goals and dreams seem genuine and true. Look at Gatsby’s “Schedule,”in Chapter IX. Then write about self-improvement goals you have set for yourself—the goals themselves and the changes you hope will come from acting on the goals. Are there certain “resolves”or “rules” you try to live by? What are they, and how have they changed as you grow older? Be sure to write briefly about what one or some of these goals are and then how they have (or will hopefully) change you.

Contest Guidelines:

The contest is open to all high school students in grades 10-12 in Washington, D.C. public or public charter high schools.
Written essay must be typed.
Video essays must be burned onto a CD or DVD.
The contest will run from now until May 12, 2008.
All entries must be RECEIVED BY May 12 at 5:00 PM
All entries must be clearly marked with your name and specifiy which essay question you're answering.
Please write your name school, email address, and telephone number on a sheet of paper separate from your entry.

Mail or hand-deliver Entries to PEN/Faulkner Foundation Writers in Schools Program
ATTN: Jamilla Coleman, Coordinator
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
Questions? Call 202-898-9061

The Prohibition Years: Speakeasy Locations in DC

2008-04-22T10:55:00.006-04:00

Kim Roberts is the author of "Jazz Age Scandals of the Rich and Scandalous!" The tour, commissioned by the Humanities Council of Washington DC for The Big Read, can be taken on your own using the self-guided tour brochure available online (click on the link for the PDF). There are also some spaces available for Kim's guided tours on April 26 and May 10, from 10:30 to 12:30. To reserve, please email dcbigread@wdchumanities.org or by calling 202-387-8391.

Kim writes:
While researching The Big Read DC tour this year, I knew right away that one of my themes would have to be Prohibition. The Prohibition laws started in DC in 1917, three years before they went countrywide, so the city was seen as a national model by Temperance organizations.

I wanted to add some former speakeasy locations to the tour, but soon found out how hard it was to find them with any certainty. In 1930, an anti-Prohibition group called The Crusaders published a map of 934 locations that had been raided in the prior seven-month period (934! And those were only the ones where the law had been enforced! There were probably over 2,000 in total). But the map, when I found a copy in the Library of Congress, was woefully lacking in details. Only the major streets were shown, and there were no exact addresses. I found some presumed speakeasy addresses from newspaper articles and oral histories taken many years after Prohibition ended, but these kinds of testimonies, dependent on fading memories, are notoriously faulty. Most researchers will only trust such sources if they can verify them with at least one other citation.

I could document enforcement and advocacy: I knew, for example, the exact location of the Anti-Saloon League of the District of Columbia (805 15th Street NW, in the Woodward Building). But somehow that was not quite as sexy.

So I turned my attention to private clubs. My favorite among the ones I found was the Gaslight Club, a legal organization located at 1020 16th St. NW. They developed a clever set-up for drinking members: to access the bar on the building's third floor, you had to enter through a faked men's bathroom. Then you had to turn a faucet handle to open a sliding panel that would admit you into the bar.

Many speakeasies were in private homes. There's one I found mentioned in a few places, so I believe the stories are trustworthy. It was in the living room of a third floor apartment on K Street. I knew the chances of this building still standing were poor, but like a dutiful researcher I went down there to see for myself. Much to my delight, I found it still exists--the original, intact, low-rise brick building, overshadowed by its high-rise neighbors. And (with strange appropriateness) it operates today as a strip club, Archibald's Gentleman's Club, at 1520 K St. NW.

The most famous of all the speakeasies was further down on K Street. The "Little Green House" at 1625 K was the headquarters of the notorious Ohio Gang. Cronies of President Warren G. Harding set themselves up in business there, with a combination speakeasy, gambling house, and brothel, operated by lobbyist Howard Mannington. This was said to be the place to arrange everything from protection from bootleggers, to the purchase of pardons and paroles, to appointments to Federal office.

The speakeasy that finally ended up on the tour (at stop number three), was another private club in the 1920s. The building still stands, and still operates as a club--but it is a public establishment now, offering an array of mixed drinks and live music. So raise a glass of booze at MCCXXIII Club, 1223 Connecticut Ave. NW, to the 18th Amendment, which made alcohol illegal across the US in January 1920, and--more importantly!--the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition in December 1933.

Gatsby in Annapolis

2008-04-07T18:12:00.004-04:00

During the Big Read orientation in Minneapolis, we met our Annapolis neighbors who are currently hosting their own city read of THE GREAT GATSBY just down US 50 East. Being the home of the Naval Academy and St. Johns College (3rd oldest in the U.S.), the Annapolis Big Read has engaged Naval Midshipmen in the book and a Gatsby Croquet Match on the campus of St. Johns (April 20, 2008). Festivities end April 30. Seems as if there's an opening on their calendar the night of our kick off for THE BIG READ - D.C. on April 24th.

If you want to get a head start on your Gatsby, check out Annapolis Alive! Big Read.

The Swankiest Party on Public Radio

2008-03-30T17:20:00.006-04:00

A few months ago, Andy Shallal, owner of Busboys and Poets, brought to my attention a radio show about The Great Gatsby on NPR. That show was PRI's Studio 360, a syndicated radio guide to pop culture and the arts. Studio 360 can be heard Saturdays and Sundays (repeat) on WAMU FM. And if you didn't get a chance to hear authors like Jonathan Franzen and others gab about Gatsby, here's your chance. It's a great webpage with audio bits and links to help you brush up on your Gatsby before April 24th.

The Great Gatsby was one of the "American Icon" features recorded in April 2007.

Listen to a clip:

Or visit the Studio 360 webpage for The Great Gatsby. A great resource.

Michon Boston

Project Director

The Big Read - D.C.

for the Humanities Council of Washington, DC

P.S. 25 days to go before the kickoff April 24! You're invited! Reply at dcbigread@wdchumanities.org or call 202-387-8391.

The Countdown Begins

2008-03-14T20:08:00.004-04:00

38 Days to Go for The Big Read - D.C.

The Big Read - D.C. kicks off Thursday, April 24, 2008 (6 PM) at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Afterwards, enjoy a month of Big Read activities and events from performances to walking tours, readings, films, and an opportunity to learn The Charleston - 2008 is the 85th anniversary.

Time to pick up your copy of The Great Gatsby at the DC Public Library, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Busboys and Poets and other local bookstores.

What does this book mean to readers today? See the following New York Times article (February 17, 2008):
"Gatsby's Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers"

Big Read - D.C. Public Informational Meeting March 8

2008-03-03T12:18:00.006-05:00

The Big Read - D.C.
Public informational session.
Saturday, March 8 @ 2 PM at the MLK, Jr. Library
(901 G Street, NW)

The Big Read - D.C.'s success depends on people like you:

Volunteer for to help out at a Big Read event;

Promote the Big Read - D.C. to your friends, associates, community;
Form your own book discussion group. Attend events together and share your thoughts about The Great Gatsby.

For information call 202-387-8391 or email dcbigread@gmail.com.

What does THE GREAT GATSBY mean to Washington, DC?

2008-02-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

I invited our Big Read - D.C. intern, Abdul Ali, to submit his impressions of The Great Gatsby as the city book for The Big Read – D.C. 2008 and set the tone for what this book means to the Washington, D.C. community.

Michon Boston

Project Director, The Big Read - D.C. 2008

The Big Read-D.C. selection for 2008 is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is considered by many to be a masterpiece. Many of us may have read this novel in high school, perhaps rereading it in college. Like all masterpieces, they remain relevant to the particulars of the human condition. Reading Gatsby is our way of keeping the conversation going among multiple generations of readers and the author.

The novel highlights the excesses of the 1920s, the music of the period, the First World War, upward mobility, and a scandalous love triangle. You may ask, but what does this have to do with Washington D.C.? Incidentally, this is the birthplace of the illustrious Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, a major player of this time period also known as the "Jazz Age." As the nation’s capital, there are endless scandals of men who failed in love and life.

At the heart of the novel is its tension between the haves and the have-nots, the measures that some of us take to reinvent ourselves. This novel invites us to examine our attitudes as it relates to how we see ourselves in relation to others. Moreover, how should we define ourselves? Are money, social rank, race, and gender accurate measures?

Finally, The Great Gatsby survives as a mirror to what our society looked liked during the 1920s. We might take this opportunity to note the differences (or similarities) of today’s society. Has any real change happened? In reading Gatsby as a city, what can be gleaned? Many of us adore The Great Gatsby for its lush language and ability to transport us to one of our nation’s most fabled cities during a time like no other. Still, we invite you to travel with us, in our time, so that we may together discover what makes this novel great and our own in 2008.

Abdul Ali is an intern for the Big Read D.C. 2008. He is a writer living in the District and a senior at Howard University studying English and Theatre.

photo credit: Charleston at the Capitol; Library of Congress

Seasons Greetings

2007-12-21T18:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays from
THE BIG READ - D.C.!

Kick off the new year with a great book. D.C. is reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY in 2008. Get a head start. Download The Big Read "The Great Gatsby" discussion guide at http://www.neabigread.org/, and learn about the national initiative.

Stay tuned to this blog site for more information and announcements about The Big Read - D.C. (April 24 - May 24, 2008).

The Big Read - D.C. is presented by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

The Big Read addresses the national decline in literary reading as documented in the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) 2004 landmark survey Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America. The Big Read, is presented by the NEA in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, to encourage literary reading by asking communities to come together to read and discuss one book.

photo: F. Scott, Zelda, and Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald. Source - Princeton University Library.

Washington, D.C. selected to host a 2nd Big Read in 2008

2007-11-19T11:23:00.001-05:00

November 13, 2007, the National Endowment for the Arts announced that Washington, D.C. was selected to host The Big Read in the first half of 2008. Read press release.

Washington, D.C. will be reading, discussing, and entertaining themes from F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY from April 24 - May 24, 2008.

D.C.'s Big Read 2008 is presented by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

This will be the 2nd D.C.'s Big Read for the co-presenters. In 2007, the city book was Zora Neale Hurston's THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD.

SAVE THE DATES! Read the book!

For more information, contact the Humanities Council of Washington, DC at 202-387-8391.

Through the Storm...The Winning Student Essays

2007-05-16T19:55:00.000-04:00

PEN/Faulkner Writers and Schools and Hurston/Wright Foundation have selected the winning essays for D.C.'s Big Read. Local high school students were asked to describe a life-changing event evocative of the literal storm featured in the novel or to write about how they connected with one of Hurston’s characters.

The following students will read an excerpt from their essays at D.C.'s Big Read's LAST CHAPTER closing event Saturday, May 19 at 8 p.m. at Busboys and Poets (2021 14th Street, NW). Call 202-387-8391 or email bigreaddc@wdchumanities.org for information. The essays will also be read on WPFW's 2K NATION May 27.

First Prize: The Storms in My Life by Francisco Garcia of Bell Multicultural High School.

Finalists: My Dream by Ana Maria Alverez of Bell Multicultural; Lessons for a Lifetime by Ivory Sarceño of Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.

Listen, Read, Watch

2007-05-10T11:55:00.000-04:00

A couple of links and highlights about D.C.'s Big Read from the past 10 days.

D.C.'s Big Read "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Download the WAMU podcast featuring Clyde McElvene (Hurston/Wright Foundation), Joy Ford Austin (Humanities Council of Washington, DC), and Michon Boston (Project Manager, D.C.'s Big Read)

The Afro American Newspaper via New America Media (posted May 9, 2007)

This week's issue of The Northwest Current has a feature on page 17. No web version available.

Submitted - View a slide show of the Petworth Friends of the Library D.C.'s Big Read event (Sunday, May 8, 2007) on You Tube:
D.C.'s Big Read/Petworth

That's What Friends Are For...

2007-05-08T16:19:00.000-04:00

The Literary Friends of the Library had a big weekend at branch libraries where friends and more friends gathered. Robin Diener shared some highlights:

Saturday at Cleveland Park, the Smithsonian's Deborah Machanic presented a wonderful slide show of related artworks and period photographs to accompany her brilliant commentary on Zora's works, themes, and "lives." A darling counterpoint was provided afterwards by one of the librarians (Bill last name sorry?) who gave a witty rundown of informative tips for forming book groups. This event was arranged by Librarian Beth Meyer who did an outstanding job. About 30 attended.

The Petworth event was "A Sunday Go To Meeting" sort of thing -- three hours and two sheet cakes! -- beginning with Howard University professor Lorraine Henry whose scholarly insights were also heartfelt and moving. The middle section consisted of spellbinding readings by part time librarian Nubia Kai and professional actress Denise Hart (Miss Anna of "The Wire"). Nubia wrote a series of "transitional pieces" that tied together the readings really superbly. Finally, Mrs Henderson's book club, based at the library for more than a decade, actually led us in what could best be described as a reading group workshop. Altogether it was perfectly spectacular. Friends President Elsa Johnston acknowledged loads of help from others especially librarian Anthony Porter, but must be congratulated for such a great show as a newly elected President. The food alone was worth the trip. About 45-50 attended.

Wednesday evening the Friends of the Georgetown Library will meet at Tudor Place with an encore presentation of "Why I Love Their Eyes Were Watching God."

My Vaulting Ambition!

2007-05-05T20:39:00.000-04:00

Was Janie ambitious?

Certainly her creator, Zora Neale Hurston, staked a claim on her ambitions. "Oh, if you knew my dreams! my vaulting ambition!" she wrote to her patron, Annie Nathan Meyer.

Barnes & Noble Georgetown hosted a discussion of THEIR EYES... with WPFW radio personality Keanna Faircloth. A small group of 5 met by the photography books -- all readers of the book including a visitor from Connecticut passing time before a younger relative escorted him to make a wedding date (don't worry, it wasn't the groom).

Janie was the topic of much of the dialogue.
What were her four loves? What made her special in her community? Was it just about the hair, skin tone, and a pleasant disposition? Was finding true love her lofty ambition? Or was living by her own rules her life's dream despite the judgements of her grandmother, her spouses, her neighbors?

Her creator, Zora Neale Hurston continues in her letter to her patron:

Prometheus on his rock with his liver being continually consumed as fast as he grows another, is nothing to my dreams. I dream such wonderfully complete ones, so radiant in astral beauty. I have not the power yet to make them come true. They always die. But even as they fade, I have others.

Chapter 9

2007-05-03T16:24:00.000-04:00

Chapters: A Literary Bookstore is presenting a marathon reading of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Today Colbert King , columnist for The Washington Post , read Chapter 9 to the group of listeners. A few people have become regulars of the reading series. NEA Chair Dana Gioia is scheduled to read the final chapter May 18th. In the meantime, the saga continues.

Marathon Reading - 1 pm, Mon. - Fri. @ Chapters: A Literary Bookstore, 445 11th Street, NW (nearest Metro - Metro Center). Call 202-737-5553.

A Continuing Talk On Race (May 6)

2007-05-02T13:10:00.000-04:00

One of Zora Neale Hurston's stand out moments and entrances was her 1925 announcement of the 2nd place prize for her play at the Opportunity magazine awards party. She flung a colored scarf around her neck and with great drama bellowed "Colooooooor Struuckkk!"

Hurston's work reveals a deep awareness of colorism within the African American community. In the play "Color Struck" Hurston's main character, Emma, a dark-skinned woman "so despises her own skin that she can't believe any one else could love it," according to one of the characters.

Each month, Busboys and Poets is the setting for a continuing talk on race or A.C.T.O.R. Pamela Pinnock has been organizing these dialogues and this Sunday, May 6th from 4 pm until 6 pm (Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th Street, NW) A.C.T.O.R. is exploring colorism.

The A.C.T.O.R. discussion will use Their Eyes Were Watching God as the framework for a series of small group discussions around the following questions:
1. What is the experience of Hurston's pivitol character -- Janie -- as it relates to her skin-color?
2. What is your own experience as it relates to skin color?
3. How do issues of race an skin color play out in today's society?

Ah just couldn't see mahself married to no black man. It's too many black folks already. We ought to lighten up the race.
—From "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Colorism within the African American community makes use of the degree of blackness or whiteness to assign privileges says David Krasner in Migration, Fragmentation, and Identity: Zora Neale Hurston's Color Struck and the Geography of the Harlem Renaissance published in S&F Online, a publication of the Barnard Center for Reserach on Women (Zora's NY alma mater).

Filmmaker Kathe Sandler explores "color consciousness" in her documentary A Question of Color which will be shown at Busboys and Poets May 5th at 11 pm, the night before the A.C.T.O.R. discussion as part of the In Focus! films for D.C.'s Big Read.

Hurston/Wright Foundation founder and author Marita Golden explores it in her book
Don't Play In the Sun:

There are so many words to describe African-Americans' pernicious, persistent dirty little secret— colorism, color-conscious, color-struck, color complex. And then there are the more specific descriptive terms that separate Blacks and create castes, and cliques, and that are ultimately definitions not of color but of culturally defined beauty and ugliness and that can end up distributing everything from power, to wealth, to love. High yellow, high yalla, saffron, octoroon, quadroon, redbone, light brown, black as tar, coal, blue-veined, café au lait, pinkie, blue-black.

How does colorism translate or play in non-African American communities?

D.C.'s Big Read and the Georgetown Library

2007-05-01T17:52:00.000-04:00

They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.

Yesterday we all watched the news with disbelief as two DC neighborhood landmarks -- Eastern Market and the Georgetown Public Library -- were engulfed by flames. Georgetown Public Library was scheduled to host a D.C.'s Big Read discussion yesterday evening.

But in times of trouble, communities pull together. At the request of the Humanities Council, Tudor Place, one of Georgetown's historic homes, will host the Literary Friends of the DC Library's program of dramatic readings and discussion of THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD:

Zora Neale Hurston Out Loud
Wednesday, May 9 at 6:30 pm
Tudor Place (Visitor Center), 1644 31st St. NW between Q and R Streets
Readings from the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God performed by George Washington University Professors Jennifer James and Gayle Wald.

And Featuring Discussion of the Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece novel of the Harlem Renaissance Their Eyes Were Watching God

• Discussion of the Novel
• How to Form a Book Group
• Borrow a “Book Box” for your reading group
• Refreshments provided by the Friends of the Georgetown Neighborhood Library

Tea Cake: A Hip Hop Character (?)

2007-04-30T12:09:00.000-04:00

Monday, April 23rd, we videotaped DC WritersCorps' presentation of poetry and spoken word inspired by Their Eyes Were Watching God. In an informal follow up discussion one of the young poets remarked that he saw Tea Cake as a "hip hop character."

What makes Tea Cake a hip hop character? A man who played blues guitar? Why do young women identify with Janie and why is she an important character for them to explore? Janie didn't live by the rules set for her. What were her rules? What and whose rules do the characters (and we) live under just to get by?

These are some of the questions inspired by the young writers of DC WritersCorps.

Zora Neale Hurston's Washington

2007-04-28T17:56:00.000-04:00

Nearly 30 people showed up today to take the guided tour of Zora Neale Hurston's Washington. Kim Roberts, who wrote the tour for D.C.'s Big Read and neighborhood historian Judith Bauer split the group into two tours at the steps of Howard University's Founders Library. D.C.'s Big Read is so lucky to have a book whose author considered Washington, D.C. her stepping stone into society.

As Zora wrote to her friend Langston Hughes,

"What do you think I was doing in Washington at that time if not getting cultured."

What cultural treasures do Washington, D.C. natives take for granted? What are newcomers discovering? What are we all missing? What do we bring to this city?

Download the complete self-guided tour from www.wdchumanities.org/bigread/ZNH_Washington_Tour.pdf.