Mutual Admiration: Carson McCullers and Richard Wright

to me the most impressive aspect of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is the astonishing humanity that enables a white writer, for the first time in Southern fiction, to handle Negro characters with as much ease and justice as those of her own race. This cannot be accounted for stylistically or politically; it seems to stem from an attitude toward life which enables Miss McCullers to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness.

- Richard Wright, New Republic (August, 1940)

When Carson McCullers published The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter in 1940, novelist Richard Wright wrote a glowing review of the book. Wright had also published his first novel, Native Son, that same year.

Editor George Davis, who shared a Brooklyn Heights house with McCullers and other artists at 7 Middagh Street, invited Wright to a combination birthday party, housewarming and Thanksgiving celebration.

"My friend Carson McCullers was so deeply touched by your review of her book and is most anxious to meet you," George wrote.

Wright was unable to make the party. Two years later, he, his wife Ellen Poppel and infant daughter Julia moved in with McCullers and her house mates. 7 Middagh was named "February House" by diarist Anais Nin for the several residents --W.H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, George Davis, and Carson McCullers--born in the month of February.

Wright found a friend in McCullers. The racism of the outside world did not intrude on the community inside February House. However, a black man, his white wife, and their baby daughter raised eyebrows in the neighborhood. Stones were thrown at the windows of February House. Wright was encountered by the coal deliverer, also African African, who refused to offer service to someone of his own race.

A year later, Carson McCullers began to decline from alcoholism and persistent poor health. Wright noticed the self-destructive change in her behavior and decided it was time for him and his family to leave February House especially for the sake of his daughter.

Carson McCullers counted Richard Wright's Black Boy (published 1945) as one of her favorite books. She wrote in her unfinished autobiography....

Another writer who was particularly dear to me is Richard Wright. … Dick and I often discussed the South, and his book, [Black Boy,] is one of the finest books by a Southern [Negro.]

To read Richard Wright's full review of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, visit http://www.carson-mccullers.com/html/wright.html.

The Big Read - D.C. and its community partner Chapters Literary Arts Center looks forward to hosting Sherill Tippins, author of February House in May. Check the Big Read - D.C. calendar in April at http://www.wdchumanities.org/.

ISO of Carson McCullers' D.C. Connection

It's been a challenge finding a D.C. connection for author Carson McCullers. Unlike Zora Neale Hurston (2007), McCullers didn't attend college and meet a BLF (best literary friend) named Langston Hughes here; unlike F. Scott Fitzgerald (2008), her parents weren't married in D.C.; neither did she have a daughter take up residence here (Scotty).

But through the Big Read, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter has made its own D.C. connection through E. Ethelbert Miller, one of the featured commentators on the Big Read Audio Guide for the book narrated by former NEA chair Dana Gioia. Miller is joined by Edward Albee, Alan Arkin, P.J. O'Rourke, Mary Louise Parker, Gore Vidal and others .

E. Ethelbert Miller describes The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter as a "must read" on the CD.

E. Ethelbert Miller has published his second memoir, The 5th Inning, through a new publishing venture by the Big Read - D.C.'s community partner Busboys and Poets. The cover is designed by Andy Shallal, owner of the Busboys and Poets restaurants and now its companion press (via PM Press). The 5th Inning the first book for Busboys and Poets.

Miller, a literary activist and board chair for the Institute for Policy Studies, has authored several collections of poems. His first memoir, Fathering Words, was selected for the DC Public Library's Center for the Book "DC We Read" program. He's often heard on NPR radio. Miller is also a founder of the Humanities Council of Washington, DC (co-presenter for the Big Read - D.C.)

We learn that what happens, even in these relationships with people that we love, we have difficulty communicating. We wind up being "deaf" to each other.
E. Ethelbert Miller, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Audio Guide

Carson McCullers never got to 2nd base in her 5th inning. She died at age 50.

A launch party for The 5th Inning and the Busboys and Poets press is scheduled for Monday, March 16 at 7 PM at Busboys and Poets (2021 14th Street, NW). The event will feature readings by Miller and other special guests as well as a book signing.

Copies of the Big Read Audio Guide to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter will be available at Big Read - D.C. events including the upcoming SpeakeasyDC event at Busboys and Poets April 23 (7:30 PM); and the official kick-off at Gallaudet University, April 25 (11 AM). For more information, call 202-387-8391 or email dcbigread@wdchumanities.org.

Deaf History Month (March 13 - April 13)

Deaf History month begins March 13. The District of Columbia Library's Adaptive Services Division has a schedule of events and activities year round including ASL readings, classes, and special guest speakers. It's speculated that Deaf History month was founded at the DC Public Library! During the month, libraries are encouraged to host deaf awareness activities.

For more information, contact Library Services to the Deaf Community:

Voice (via Video Relay Service) 866-570-7364 and ask for Janice Rosen;

Voice (direct) or VideoPhone (202) 727-2145; TTY (202) 727-2255

E-mail: library_deaf_dc@yahoo.com.

Saturday, March 21 from 11 am - 4 pm, the DCPL Adaptive Services Division will have a new Grand Opening and Open House:

11am to 12 noon ASL (American Sign Language) Story Hour, Librarian Janice Rosen signs in ASL, "Moses Goes to the Circus," by Isaac Millman - stories projected on a screen page by page as the story as told. Therapy dog teams from People Animals Love will join us for the story hour and will stay after the story hour at a designated table to talk to people and answer questions.

12:15 pm to 1:45 pm Library director, Ginnie Cooper, and members from the blind community and the Library of Congress National Library Services for the Blind. including Michael Mellor, the author of the most recent biography of Louis Braille will speak.

2 to 3 Sing and Sign in ASL. Learn to sign a simple song and learn a few other signs, too.

CART and ASL interpreters will be provided. Deaf-Blind who need tactile or close-vision interpreters or other accomodations, please let us know right away.

Thursday, March 26 - 7:00 – 8:45 pm

Germantown Library, 19840 Century Blv, Germantown , MD 20874

Saturday March 28 at 12 noon - 2 pm

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW (Rm A-5), Washington, DC 20001

Independent Researcher Steven Sandy presents William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy: Deaf Baseball Hero

Dummy Hoy was the first deaf player in major league baseball and had to overcome many obstacles on his way to becoming one of the greatest outfielders of his time. Hoy is credited with the creation of the hand signals used by umpires to indicate whether the pitch thrown was a “strike” or a “ball.” Not being able to hear the calls which were shouted out by the umpires, Hoy asked his coach to stand at third base and raise his right hand for a strike and left hand for a ball. These hand signals are used by baseball umpires all over the world today. Mr. Sandy’s research covers the whole range of Hoy's life from the time he was born on May 23, 1862 on a farm in Houcktown , Ohio to his death on December 15, 1961 in Cincinnati , Ohio at the age of 99.

Let's Communicate - American Sign Language Classes - Spring Schedule

Classes are held at the MLK, Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW. Check the electronic bulletin board at the entrance to confirm meeting room. All sign language programs are FREE and open to the public. There is NO need to register.

BEGINNING LEVEL (100+ Basic ASL Vocabulary and Basic ASL Structure)
Mon./Tues. March 16 – May 11, 2009: 5:30 – 7:00 pm - 2nd Floor E. Lobby
Mon./Tues. May 18 – June 30, 2009: 5:30 – 7:00 pm – 2nd Floor E. Lobby
(Instructor: Maurice Smith)

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL (More Vocabulary / Advanced Rules of ASL)
Tuesdays February 3 – April 28, 2009: 5:30 – 7:30 pm – Room 221
(Instructor: Richard Stokes. NOTE on March 10, 17, 31, class will NOT meet in Room 221. Check electronic bulletin board or the Book Information Desk for the room number.)
Mon./Tues. March 16 – May 11, 2009: 5:30 – 7:00 pm – 2nd Floor E.
(Instructor: Linda McCrimmon)
Tuesdays May 5 – June 30, 2009: 5:30 – 7:30 pm – Room TBA
(Instructor: Richard Stokes)
Mon./Tues. May 18 – June 30, 2009: 5:30 – 7:00 pm – 2nd Floor E. Lobby
(Instructor: Linda McCrimmon)

CONVERSATIONAL (Communication Practice – All skill levels)
Saturdays February 7 – May 23, 2009: 10:00 am – 12:00 Noon – Room 221
(Instructor: Andrea Galer)

Three Authors and a Poem

Carson McCullers took the title for her novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, from a poem by William Sharp - "The Lonely Hunter." William Sharp was a Scottish poet (1855-1905), journalist, and editor who also wrote under the pseudonym Fiona MacLeod. Fiona often published works in the style of the " Celtic Twilight School" popularized by William Butler Yeats. The writing was mystical, imaginative, mythical. Sharp's double identity was kept secret from the public. His sister Mary and his mother were called on to provide correspondence from Fiona MacLeod in an authentic woman's handwriting. Fiona MacLeod was enjoying a successful career and Sharp could not let her go until his death. When Fiona's true identity was revealed, it caused a scandal.

"The Lonely Hunter" was one of many poems written by Fiona MacLeod aka William Sharp.

Green branches, green branches, I see you beckon; I follow!
Sweet is the place you guard, there in the rowan-tree hollow.
There he lies in the darkness, under the frail white flowers,
Heedless at last, in the silence, of these sweet midsummer hours.

But sweeter, it may be, the moss whereon he is sleeping now,
And sweeter the fragrant flowers that may crown his moon-white brow:
And sweeter the shady place deep in an Eden hollow
Wherein he dreams I am with him — and, dreaming, whispers, “Follow!”

Green wind from the green-gold branches, what is the song you bring?
What are all songs for me, now, who no more care to sing?
Deep in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still,
But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.

Green is that hill and lonely, set far in a shadowy place;
White is the hunter’s quarry, a lost-loved human face:
O hunting heart, shall you find it, with arrow of failing breath,
Led o’er a green hill lonely by the shadowy hound of Death?

Green branches, green branches, you sing of a sorrow olden,
But now it is midsummer weather, earth-young, sun-ripe, golden:
Here I stand and I wait, here in the rowan-tree hollow,
But never a green leaf whispers, “Follow, oh, Follow, Follow!”

O never a green leaf whispers, where the green-gold branches swing:
O never a song I hear now, where one was wont to sing.
Here in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still,
But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.

Meet the 2009 Big Read - D.C. Honorary Chair, George Pelecanos

Local author and native Washingtonian George Pelecanos is honorary chair for the 2009 Big Read - D.C. Pelecanos is the author of 15 novels set in and around the District as well as editor for two short story anthologies under the title D.C. Noir. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, "The Wire."

Pelecanos has been a friend of the Big Read - D.C. since he participated in our community partners's meeting to select the 2008 Big Read - D.C. book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

As a crime novelist, Pelecanos has a special kinship with Washington, DC area where he grew up, went to school, church, and worked. The road to the first novel was paved with a variety of jobs including linecook, dishwaster, woman's shoe salesman, and bartender. The first novel, A Firing Offense, brought a small advance but not enough to pay the rent. It did lead to a second novel, a new publisher and a larger advance to live on, plus a film option from Miramax. Options of books don't guarantee films, but they can bring writers some attractive income from Hollywood. His novel Right as Rain is currently in development with director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, Wonder Boys) and Warner Brothers.

Carson McCullers was no stranger to Hollywood either. She adapted her third novel, Member of the Wedding (1946) into a stage play. It went to Broadway and then was optioned for a Hollywood film production starring Julie Harris and Ethel Waters. McCullers' other novels --The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter--were all optioned and adapted for film.

For the 2009 Big Read - D.C., George Pelecanos will be joining us for the official kickoff Saturday, April 25, the Larry Neal Writers Competition Awards on May 8, and a reading at Politics & Prose of his new novel, The Way Home due for release in May. (Stay tuned to this blog for the complete and most up-to-date calendar for the 2009 Big Read - D.C.)

This year's Big Read - D.C. aims to inspire new readers and writers. Each year, the Big Read - D.C. introduces new work by community partners like SpeakeasyDC and DC WritersCorps, as well as D.C. high school student poets and essayists.

For more information about George Pelecanos, visit his website at www.georgepelecanos.com
Read about our February community partners meeting on the national NEA Big Read blog
http://www.nea.gov/bigreadblog/?p=213.

SpeakeasyDC featured in Sunday's WaPo

SpeakeasyDC was featured in Sunday's (2/15/09) Metro section of the Washingotn Post in an article titled "True Lives, Under a Spotlight" by Tara Bahrampour. SpeakeasyDC trains and showcases local storytellers monthly to share true stories or tall tales, mostly autobigraphical.

SpeakeasDC will be the first community partner event for the 2009 Big Read - D.C. with "Outside Looking In," a tribute to the 2009 Big Read - D.C. city book, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Last year they packed the Langston Room for the city read of The Great Gatsby. The event is scheduled for Busboys and Poets April 23rd at 7:30 PM. For more information, contact SpeakeasDC at www.speakeasydc.org.

Larry Neal Writers' Competition to give a Big Read - D.C. Special Recognition Award for Creative Expression in 2009

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities announces the availability of applications for the 26th Annual Larry Neal Writers’ Competition, which is open to District of Columbia resident amateur and professional writers of all ages. Submissions will be judged using a blind format by distinguished area literary professionals in the following genres: poetry, short story, essay, and dramatic writing. Winners will be announced at the much anticipated awards ceremony to take place at 6:00 pm, May 8, 2009 at the Elizabethan Theatre of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Cash awards and prizes will be given. The ceremony is presented in partnership with the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C., PEN Faulkner Foundation, and the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Special initiative for 2009: The Big Read-D.C. Special Recognition Award for Creative Expression. As part of DC’s 2009 Big Read celebration of author Carson McCuller’s The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, a special prize will be given in each age group to writers who compose an essay on the theme of courage.

DEADLINE: Submissions must be received in the Commission’s office by 7:00 pm Thursday, March 19, 2009. For more information, program guidelines and an application form, please visit http://www.dcarts.dc.gov/ and click on “special events.”



About Larry Neal (photo): Larry Neal was a journalist, essayist, arts and culture critic, playwright, and poet during an artistic era known as the "Black Arts Movement" from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s. Lawrence P. Neal was born in Atlanta, GA in 1937. His family moved to Philadelphia, PA where he and his four brothers grew up. He graduated from Lincoln University in 1961 and received his Masters from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. In 1968, Neal co-edited Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing with Amiri Baraka which captured the spirit of the Black Arts Movement. Neal also wrote an essay about "The Black Arts Movement" in the same year. He worked as executive director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities from 1976 - 1979. Larry Neal died from a heart attack in 1981.

Carson McCullers on Loneliness

I live with the people I create and it has always made my essential loneliness less keen.”

Carson McCullers, author, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Heart ReadingThe 2009 Big Read - D.C.

As Valentines Day approaches, we can't help but focus on the heart...and the upcoming Big Read - D.C. 2009. D.C. is reading The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. This was a first novel by a 23-year-old young woman from Columbus, Georgia. McCullers began writing the book during the Great Depression, a time of extreme economic distress, social upheaval, and, despite everything, possibilities and new [i]deals.

Last year we explored the excess and indulgences of the jazz age in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. This year our city book may be a lot more sober than the previous year's book, but thanks to our Big Read - D.C. team and community partners, you can look forward to not just reading The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, but experiencing the book from April 23 - May 23, 2009.

Get started with the Readers guide posted on the national Big Read website:

http://www.neabigread.org/books/lonelyhunter/

A Teachers Guide is also available. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is assigned reading for 11th grade English classes in the D.C. Public Schools thanks to a generous grant from Reading Is Fundamental.

Share your thoughts and ideas about the book on this blog. Be part of the story!

Michon Boston

Project Director

The Big Read - D.C. 2009

Highlights from the Big Read 2008

Enjoy photo highlights from the city read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby for The Big Read - D.C. 2008.  The Big Read - D.C. 2009 will take place April 23 - May 23, 2009.  More information will be posted on this blog site.  Photo credits:  Wedonna L. Morris (Kickoff event), Maresha Tadesse, Michon Boston.

And the winner is....Big Read - D.C. High School Essay contest

photo: Left-Right: Dr. Anne Ashmore-Hudson (Chair, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities), Donald Murray (Chair, Humanities Council of Washington, DC), Sharon Adams, Joy Ford Austin (Humanities Council of Washington, DC), Jamilla Coleman (PEN/Faulkner Writers In Schools)

Sharon Adams (3rd from the left), a junior at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School won first prize in the Big Read - D.C. high school essay contest, Secrets, Goals and Dreams, organized by PEN/Faulkner Writers in Schools. Sharon read her winning essay, "Secrets: The Vital Flaws," at the Big Read - D.C.'s closing event for the city read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The reading was followed by a standing ovation and applause inside the Langston Room at Busboys and Poets.

Sharon received the $300 first prize. Runners-up Jasmine Igbedion (Banneker Academic High School) and Marsha Casey (Cardoza High School) each received $150 dollars. Information about the 2009 Big Read - D.C. essay contest will be announced in January 2009.

Secrets: The Vital Flaws

by Sharonda Adams

Secrets have a way of overshadowing the lives of their owners and changing their destiny. They develop an unconscious duty to protect them and hide their contents from everybody. A fear of instant vulnerability is instilled in one’s mind at the very thought of the secret being exposed. Trying to obtain discreet and mysterious traits that will make the task of concealing this clandestine simple, a flaw in who we really are or more in particular who I really am develops.

My secret ultimately has nothing to do with me directly but affects my thought and opinions of myself. It has corrupted my ability to go certain places and watch certain things. I have been taunted and broken by its contents but in a way it has made me stronger. Growing up as a child there were times when I questioned my mother of my fathers whereabouts and because of my age and failure to truly understand the situation, I was often ignored. With my younger brother being named after my father hearing my mother call his name would create an indescribable excitement in me as I ran towards her voice yelling "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" only to be disappointed by the presence of my brother. So what is my secret?Only time will tell.

In the Great Gatsby Tom Buchanan was engaged in an affair with Myrtle Wilson despite that fact that they were both married. Myrtle was a citizen of the Valley of the Ashes which was a depressing gloomy area that constantly rained ashes. Over looked by the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's faded eyes, the devastating scenery reminds me of God watching over his struggling children with pain in his eyes. Tom Buchanan lived in East Egg as a wealthy first class citizen with a wife who truly loved him. Myrtle was secretly unhappy with the circumstances of her marriage and fell in love with Tom. Be that as it may there's still a quiet voice that whispers it was the things Tom's money could buy that created that affection and adoration. Both Tom and Myrtle had significant others in which they truly cared about but the thrill of living a double life ultimately made their attraction stronger. In the end it was Myrtle who was killed all because of a secret that got out. Myrtle's secret predetermined her destiny.

My secret doesn't involve the appalling content of adultery but it tends to get the same looks of shame from the public's eyes. All of my efforts to rise above my denial of embarrassment fail me every time. Should I really live my life hiding the horrible truths of a drug addicted father? Should it all even affect me so deeply that there is a piece of me missing? I live and breathe for the satisfaction of knowing one day he will change. It hurts to hear him say I love you because I already know it. I constantly question if I'm the one who is supposed to be broken by his struggles when I have my own. My secret is hidden because I'm not strong enough to be open about it. I keep it in the depths of my soul and refuse to ever let it be spoken to anybody who could possibly destroy me. My secret has developed an immortal determination in me that burns like a flame, constantly reminding me that one mistake can ruin it all. Everything I've worked to build and even those in progress. Everyday is a new fight because I'm battling what I've come from and where it is that I want to go. I'm constantly reminded of my father every time I walk past that street corner inhabited by those zombies who live another day just to poison them selves. I become the faded billboard eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg except my eyes are filled with tears and my look of disappointment doesn't instill the fear of God in them. My secret is the reason why I sing. It brings out the best in me because I live to outshine it. I live to taunt it. In my defeat in have victory over the only thing that can break me down. My father. My heart. My soul. Through my pain I bring joy and that's genuinely what make me unique from all of the rest.

Holding a secret in your heart can bring you closer to your wishes. Gatsby would stare out over the ocean at that green light in East Egg because he knew Daisy was over there. With the help of Nick, Gatsby and Daisy's love was rekindled. Gatsby had undying love for Daisy that he held unto and was crushed when he found out she was married. Despite the fact Daisy was married she continued to see him. Due to a secret Tom and Myrtle held, Gatsby’s life was influenced in a twist of fate. After being told it was Gatsby who killed Myrtle, George shot and killed him instantly, taking his own life in the end.

"When your heart becomes the grave of your secrets, that desire of yours will be gained more quickly. The prophet said that anyone who keeps secret his inmost thought will soon attain the object of his desire. When seeds are buried in the earth, their inward secrets become the flourishing garden" Rumi Daylight: A Daybook of Spiritual Guidance. My secret has been buried into the deepest part of me and will grow into my success. It will flourish into my triumph and my little secret that I was so ashamed of, will be the root of it all.

The Great Gatsby and The War of Ideas

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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