NEA Big Read
The Bear by Andrew Krivak
An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Arts Midwest, a Big Read broadens understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience. In partnership with the Center for the Book at the NH State Library, NH State Council for the Arts, New Hampshire Public Radio, NH Department of Corrections-Family Connections Center, 50 local libraries and community organizations, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Gibson’s Bookstore, and scholars, NHH’s Big Read will bring more than 5,000 Granite Staters together to discuss a selected book, The Bear by New Hampshire author Andrew Krivak.
The Big Read will take place from September through November 2023 and will feature book discussions, public programs, and a public Q&A with Andrew Krivak, all free and open to the public. Events will take place in all ten counties of the state. (https://www.nhhumanities.org/bigread/)
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
The Book
In an Edenic future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain, the last of humankind. When the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can only learn to listen in this cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss.
The Programs
Friday, September 8th, 2023- Humanities at Home 5pm Broadcast via Zoom in Community Room
NH Humanities will host Dr. Brett Ryan Bellamy for a discussion exploring what The Bear, alongside other postapocalyptic books, reveals about our contemporary anxieties.
Saturday, September 16th – Book Discussion 9am In-person and via Zoom in the Community Room
This discussion will be facilitated by Carrie Brown for NH Humanities [https://www.nhhumanities.org/programs/teacher/12/carrie-brown]
To register for Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpdu-oqz8jGNyUxfDrpw7VWwFv9przqJM0
This program will be held both live and virtually.
Thursday, October 12th, 2023- History of the Abenaki 6pm In-person in the Community Room
Lucy Neel of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, will present the Abenaki’s vibrant regional culture that reaches back nearly 13,000 years and continues today. She will discuss how animals sustain them and how they are an integral part of Abenaki culture. Artifacts will be part of this presentation.
Saturday, October 14th, 2023- Author Discussion with Andrew Krivak 2 pm Broadcast via Zoom in Community Room
NH Humanities will host Krivak for a public, live-streamed event to discuss how NH’s landscape inspired the novel and how stories are essential for helping us understand our past, present, and future. Audience members will participate in a Q&A.
Friday, November 3rd, 2023- Humanities at Home 5 pm Broadcast via Zoom in Community Room
NH Humanities will host Midge Goldberg, MFA, to discuss her book, Outer Space: 100 Poems to examine how poets have told stories about the night sky throughout human history.