The community-wide reading initiative “The Big Read” begins this month with Zora Neale
Hurston’s transcendent and achingly human novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The beauty of Hurston's prose, her gift for comedy, and the visceral terror of the story’s climax make this book a remarkable work. Published amid controversy in 1937 and rescued from obscurity four decades later, the novel narrates the story of a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl ripening into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny. The Big Read takes place February 6-March 7 and includes discussions, performances, films, art exhibits, and school programs designed to get the community reading, discussing, and thinking about the author, the book, and its significance. Free copies of the novel will be made available to the community. Little and Middle Big Read titles also available. For details and a full calendar of Big Read events, visit goldenislesarts.org.