The Charleston County Big Read

The Charleston County Big Read is an exciting program of events sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) to promote literacy and reading, diversity and community. Charleston is only one of 117 counties selected by the NEA for this project. The focus in Charleston is on Zora Neale Hurston and her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Their Eyes Were Watching God was published in 1937 to great public criticism because of its use of dialect and the belief that the effect was "minstrelish." It wasn't until more than ten years after Zora Neale Hurston died in 1960 that her novel gained respect and admiration for her writing and her characters. She tried to show that the black culture was rich and unique and had many essential offerings to the rest of the world.

The Big Read draws attention not just to Zora Neale Hurston and her novel, but to related art, dance, crafts, the Gullah culture and much more. Among some of the events planned are book discussions, book readings, and viewings of the 2005 movie Their Eyes Were Watching God made by Oprah Winfrey with Halle Berry as the female lead. The Charleston County Public Library offers "Book Club Kits" for checking out that have copies of the book and a reader's guide with ideas for thought and discussion.

Some of the other events include a talk by a local Gullah artist on his inspiration from the author, a lecture by her niece Lucy Ann Hurston about Zora's story. There are a wide variety of lectures scheduled. There is a writing contest, a quilting project, concerts, films, a photography workshop, Zora Alive! which is a one woman show about Zora, open mike poetry, and much more.

The Big Read Finale is at Riverfront Park in North Charleston. It's an outdoor performance with the Nia Production African Dance Company and includes performing arts students from local schools. Later that same day at Emanuel AME church is the program "Their Eyes Were Watching God: Expressions of Praise in the Southern Folk Tradition." This includes dancing, singing, prose and more.

The Charleston County Big Read ends October 14^th. If you would like more information visit the library online at www.ccpl.org or you can call 843-805-6930. Almost all of the programs are free as the Big Read is funded through a grant by the NEA. Even if you can't attend any of the events for the Big Read, read the novel and/or watch the movie of Their Eyes Were Watching God.