The Great Gatsby BIG READ!
Books change lives for the better.
...Dana Gioia, Chairman, The National Endowment for the Arts
Wednesday, September 17
New Orleans Museum of Art
5 to 8 p. m.
The Great Gatsby Big Read Orientation
for Participating Teachers and Librarians
The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society and its partner, the Jefferson Parish Public Library, have been selected by The National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Midwest, and the Institute of Library Services for a grant to stage a 2008 BIG READ project designed to stimulate reading among Metropolitan New Orleans teenagers, their parents and other residents of the Metropolitan area.
Grantees all over the country select works of literary art from a list dictated by NEA. Grant projects focus on a single work of literary art. The Faulkner Society selected F. Scott Fitzgerald's 
masterwork, The Great Gatsby because its themes are as fresh today as when they wereconceived. Because of the ongoing national political and social dialogue 
about access to the American Dream by all segments of our society, a dialogue which will reach a crescendo of public interest with the Presidential election debates, the Society believes The Great Gatsby will resonate dramatically with both students and their teachers. There is also, of course, a New Orleans connection. Fitzgerald and his Zelda lived in New Orleans briefly during the jazz age and musical riffs of the era inform
the work. For information discussion events about The Great Gatsby during Words & Music, Click Here!
A major thrust of the Society's project will be to put free copies of the book the hands of high school students of the Metropolitan area. The project kicks off on September 17th with an orientation for participating teachers and librarians, featuring a talk by Dr. Janet Haedicke, a member of the teaching staff of the University of Lousiana, Monroe, who is an authority on American literature. Dr. Haedicke will speak on "The American Dream Theme in Literature." The orientation is a joint event with the Southern Foods Museum and the New Orleans Public Library who are doing a similar project, the To Kill A Mockingbird BIG READ, and the One Book initiative which is sonsoring events based on Tom Piazza's new novel, City of Refuge. The event will take place at the New Orleans Museum of Art at City Park from 5 to 8 p. m. The event will include a tour of NOMA's exciting Botero exhibit and a Botero party following the orientation.
Sunday October 19, 2008:
The Walker Mansion, 2503 St. Charles Avenue
6 p. m. to 9 p. m.
General Admission, $75 per person
Faulkner Salutes Fitzgerald:
The Roaring 20s Return to New Orleans
Gala celebration and fundraiser for the Faulkner Society's Great Gatsby BIG READ project at the Walker Mansion. CLICK HERE for more details on this extraordinary venue! The event will will begin at
6 p. m. and will feature food, wine, music, and a vintage Rolls Royce parade kicking off the event. The event will be a Great Gatsby costume party honoring participating teachers, librarians, and donors.
Be among that number! Why should you participate in this project? Read on!
The National Endowment for the Arts instituted THE BIG READ, to combat shocking trends discovered in the NEA’s extensive national survey and its compilation of all other available data on 21st Century reading habits of teenage and adult Americans. NEA learned that:
* More than half of Americans, including college graduates, do not read literature. At risk especially are men.
* Nearly one third of American teenagers are dropping out of school because of declining literacy and reading comprehension. At risk especially are
young men.
* Lack of employment, lower wages, lack of opportunities for advancement result from poor reading skills.
* Deficient readers are less likely to be active in civic and cultural activities, less likely to vote or volunteer for community causes.
* Deficient readers are more likely to end up in prison or otherwise become burdens for society.
It's in your own best interests to help stimulate interest in reading good literature and to help our New Orleans area teenagers develop the reading skills they need to achieve the American Dream, a slice of the economic success pie and acceptance as worthy citizens.
How can you participate? You can open the eyes of at risk teenagers...you can introduce them to the joys of reading with a gift of great literature...
The Great Gatsby.
* Donate $5,000 and make 400 copies available to at-risk teenagers.
* Donate $2,500 and make 200 copies available to at-risk teenagers.
* Donate $1,250 and make 100 copies available to at-risk teenagers.
* Donate $625 and make 50 copies available to at-risk teenagers.
* Donate $312.50 and make 25 copies available to at-risk teenagers.
Make all checks payable to and mail to:
The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society.
624 Pirate’s Alley
New Orleans, LA. 70116
(504) 586-1609
The Faulkner Society is a (501) (c) (3) non-profit literary organization.
All donations are fully tax deductible.
Gently used copies of The Great Gatsby may be donated and
will be accepted for THE BIG READ by the Faulkner Society
and by all Libraries of Jefferson Parish.
Donors, participating teachers, and librarians will be guests of honor for
The Gala Fundraiser for:
The Great Gatsby BIG READ
Sunday, October 19, 6 to 9 p. m.
The Walker Mansion, 2503 St. Charles Avenue
With the music of the Jazz Age, dancing The Charleston, bathtub libations,
antique cars, and multiple reincarnations of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.
For details about all of the exciting events not only for students
but for the general reading public which are part of this project:
Faulkhouse@aol.com * www.wordsandmusic.org * www.neabigread.org
| Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society 624 Pirate’s Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116 phone: (504) 586-1609 or (504) 525-5615 fax: (504) 522-9725 info@wordsandmusic.org |
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