What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1095535
MARCH 24-30, 2019 WHAT'S UP! 11 Two Books, Two Authors BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette NEA Big Read THE HOST — University of Arkansas at Fort Smith THE AUTHOR — Emily St. John Mandel THE BOOK — "Station Eleven," set in a post-apocalyptic world where a small troupe of actors and musicians travel between settlements. THE PUBLIC EVENT — Talk & book signing, 7 p.m. March 26, Stubblefield Center, 532 N. Waldron Road WHY IT'S UNIQUE — UAFS was the only university in Arkansas to receive a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant. THE HISTORY — Since 2006, the NEA has funded more than 1,400 Big Read programs. THE CONNECTION — "Our interest in Mandel's novel is uniquely linked to our local region, for when there are no new frontiers, sometimes we look for frontiers in a futuristic world, and sometimes we revisit the old frontiers," says Ann-Gee Lee, NEA Big Read Fort Smith co-chairwoman. "Fort Smith is currently engaged in both enterprises, and Mandel's novel speaks directly to this desire to preserve the past and forge new frontiers." IN THE AUTHOR'S WORDS — "I had a hard time learning how to read … but when it finally clicked, when I was about 8, my memory is that I went more or less directly from the primary readers to 'Treasure Island.' I retain extremely vivid images of the book, but I'll never read it again, because I don't want to take another look and find out that none of my childhood memories of the book match the reality. "My plan was to be a dancer. I … danced professionally for a couple of choreographers, but the truth is that by that point, my heart wasn't really in it anymore, and it was around that time that I began to think about taking my writing more seriously. "What makes a story interesting enough to spend two or three or four years developing into a novel? The answer for me is the characters. I have to find the characters interesting. I think that even the most thrilling and shocking story can be pretty boring if the char- acters aren't interesting, and I think that even an outwardly mundane story can be fascinating if the charac- ters are compelling." INFO — class.uafs.edu/english/ nea-big-read Literary events consider the present and the future Photo courtesy Sarah Shatz Emily St. John Mandel "Station Eleven" Photo courtesy UA Angie Thomas "The Hate U Give" One Book, One Community THE HOST — University of Arkan- sas at Fayetteville THE AUTHOR — Angie Thomas THE BOOK — "The Hate U Give," the story of a 16-year-old whose life is upended when she is the sole witness to a police officer shooting her best friend, Khalil, who turns out to have been unarmed — but may or may not have been a drug dealer. THE PUBLIC EVENT — 6:30 p.m. March 26, Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville; free tickets at 443-5600 WHY IT'S UNIQUE — "The committee when it first started was more about finding the best book possible," says UA professor Kevin M. Fitzpatrick. "We've seen it morph over the last several years into what are the compelling societal themes right now and should we as an educational institution be looking at advancing that conversation both on campus and in the community. Thus, Black Lives Matter emerges as a dominant societal theme in the 2018-19 season." THE HISTORY — This is the eighth year of the One Book, One Community project. THE CONNECTION — "Why 'The Hate U Give'? The most contemporary, carefully crafted, entertaining read on the topic that was available. We also like to make sure that it is no more than 400 pages, typi- cally paperback (not always), the author is alive and is a good public speaker," Fitzpatrick says. "What we always hope for when we select a book is that it stirs something up in indi- viduals to be asking the hard questions, and to be having the tough conversations. We don't select books because we think they might be controversial; we select books because we think that our students, faculty, staff and community should be thinking and talking about the issues that the book raises." INFO — fulbright.uark. edu/special-events/ one-book-one-community ROUNDUP