Stories without Borders
Austin Community College’s Division of Arts & Humanities Receives a Big Read Grant
By Christopher Smith
Austin Community College’s Division of Arts and Humanities is one of 269 organizations to receive a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The Big Read is a nationwide effort to bring communities together to read and discuss literature.
A 2004 report by the NEA found that literary reading is declining in the US, especially among the young. ACC’s Arts and Humanities Division is trying to reverse that trend. The division will use its $20,000 grant to inspire Austinites to read again and to assure that great works of literature do not get relegated to the dark, unused recesses of the library, but remain at the forefront of American culture. Lyman Grant, Dean of the Arts and Humanities Division, hopes to get a broad spectrum of the Austin community reading this fall, and to accomplish this he has chosen Sun, Stone, and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories, as the book to be used for the first Big Read to come to Austin. “The Arts and Humanities Division has been looking for grants to expand our programming, and we have been looking for ways to engage the community,” said Grant. The NEA’s Big Read Program was the perfect vehicle with which to accomplish both goals.
Relapsed and reluctant readers are the main target of the Big Read program and traditional book clubs just aren’t bringing those readers in, says Grant. “We need to create interest and excitement among readers, not promulgate the interests of English teachers,” said Grant, who taught English at ACC before becoming dean. “To answer why literature reading is on the decline we, as English teachers, need to look at our own history and see why. Sure TV and modern media might have something to do with the decline in literary reading, but also the type of literature being written has an effect, and perhaps the culture of the English classroom is part of the reason.”
Grant chose this book of short stories by Mexican writers, from the long list of possible choices provided by the NEA, because he felt readers in Austin would be able to engage and be interested by these stories. “We have a large and important influence of Mexican Culture that is embedded throughout the city,” said Grant. He thinks that once people begin to read the book they will find that the stories of Mexico are not so different from stories of Austin.
“Mexican culture permeates the city throughout,” said Grant, “The purpose of this program is to bring the literary aspect of the culture to the forefront.” Many other cities in Texas and across the country will also be using Sun, Stone, and Shadow for their Big Read programs. Places like the Bronx, Denver, and even Whitewater, Wisconsin, will be using the book, a sign, perhaps, of how widespread and ingrained Mexican culture is throughout the U.S.
Like revolutionaries rallying around the battle cry “Literature for the People!” various businesses and organizations throughout Austin have signed on to help Grant and the Arts and Humanities Division make the Big Read a city wide affair. The Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), Austin Public Library, Lorraine “Grandma” Camacho Activity Center, ACC Library, Austin Bat Cave, ACC’s El Centro, ACC’s Creative Writing Department, The Center for Public Policy and Political Studies at ACC, The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, and Resistencia Bookstore will work with The Arts and Humanities Division to host readings, music, and other events related to the Big Read.
The person responsible for coordinating with all these different organizations and overseeing the various Big Read events is Rosa Davíla, assistant Spanish professor and the Big Read program manager. “I think this is a very important program to promote reading,” said Davíla, “I’m interested in making people aware of the possibilities there are in reading and exploring other types of literature that will broaden people’s perspective of other cultures.” Davíla has grouped the 20 stories in the book into seven themes she thinks will pique reader’s interest and will help link events and celebrations pertaining to Mexican culture to the stories. “We have stories coming from the more revolutionary period where people are talking about the struggles of the great event which was the Revolution in México,” said Davíla of the first set of stories to be discussed. The next two themes will deal with Mexican men and women and the issues of love, relationships and gender roles in society.
The themes to be discussed in October will begin with “The Absurd and the Bizarre,” and move on to “Ancient Gods,” “Poetic Imagination,” and the Big Read ends with the theme titled “Mysterious Night.”
There are a number of events already set up to correspond with the themes Davíla has developed. Three stories in the book that deal with the revolution will correspond with Mexican Independence Day Celebrations being held at ACC’s Riverside Campus on September 16th. The Mexican American Cultural Center with host an event titled “Revolutions, Personal & Political” on September 24th. The event will bring together the private roles that men and women play as well as the public political and revolutionary ones. Actors Rupert Reyes, from Teatro Vivo of Austin, and Amparo Garcia Crow, Creative Writing Professor at ACC and founding director of the Mexican American Cultural Center, will perform stage readings of a few of the stories from Sun, Stone, and Shadow.
On October 1st, Cuban–American author Cristina Garcia will give a collaborative reading with author and translator Liliana Valenzuela at ACC’s Rio Grande Campus Mainstage Theater. Garcia was born in Havana but grew up in New York City and writes and speaks about the life and struggles of immigrants. Valenzuela has translated many works by Latina writers and translated Garcia’s 2008 novel The Handbook of Luck. The Arts and Humanities Division will partner with ACC’s Center for Public Policy and Political Studies, the University of Texas, Huston–Tillotson University and St. Edwards University for “Reading the Future: Preparing Texas Educators Today for the Students of Tomorrow” to be held at ACC’s Eastview Campus on October 10th. The conference will highlight the importance of the teacher in encouraging and promoting the reading of literature.
Many more events and readings are planned for the month of September and October. In addition, the book is being read in ACC classes in English for Speakers of Other Languages and in English Composition II Honors classes.
“I think the book is going to help us in many different ways,” said Davíla, “I saw this book and just by looking at the authors you can see that it is good quality literature. There are well-known authors and the stories portray a lot of Mexican heritage and culture. Being in the short story format it is going to be easier for readers to digest and connect with them.” Davíla believes the Big Read events will help people connect to the book not only through reading but also through the music events, staged readings and cultural celebrations being planned. “I want to invite people to get involved in reading, to have that culture in their home,” said Davíla. “It is important to come together and discuss books and have literature at home.”
For more information on the book and events visit the ACC Big Read webpage, http://www.austincc.edu/bigread
