NEA Big Read

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Programs and book discussions throughout the month of October.

Beginning September 1, book giveaways at all locations and select bookmobile stops while copies last.

NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

Generously supported by the Friends of the Ferguson Library and co-sponsored by Stamford Stands Against Racism and UCONN-Stamford.

The library has copies of Beloved available to borrow in several formats – book, audiobook, e-audio and e-book. If you would prefer reading an e-book edition, download it from OverDrive with the Libby app. No waiting time. We have simultaneous access through October.

Throughout the month of October: Documentary Viewing: Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Available on Hoopla and DVD.

Schedule is subject to change. Updates will appear on this page.

Please note that face masks are required for all indoor in-person programs.

The NEA Big Read Kick-off: Community Quilt Project
Saturday, October 2 from 11a.m. to 2 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building
First Floor Lobby

Create your square to add to the community quilt. All ages.

Keynote Speaker –Valerie Smith, President of Swarthmore College
Thursday, October 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building
Third Floor Auditorium
Valerie Smith, President of Swarthmore College, a Toni Morrison scholar and author of Toni Morrison: Writing the Moral Imagination.  Registration required for in-person program at the library. REGISTER.

Also available as a virtual program on Zoom. Join the Zoom webinar at the scheduled time.

(photo credit Laurence Kesterson)

Healing from Trauma - Exploring the Personal Grief Process through the Lens of Toni Morrison's Novel, Beloved – with Allison Bass-Riccio
Wednesday, October 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building
Third Floor Auditorium
Allison Bass-Riccio currently serves as Department Chair and teacher of English Literature at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Cheshire, CT. Additionally, she is Coordinator of the Campus Writing Center and House Head of a girls' dorm on campus. Registration required. REGISTER.

Also available as a virtual program on Zoom. Join the Zoom webinar at the scheduled time.

The Work and World of Toni Morrison – with Grégory Pierrot
Monday, October 18 at 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building
Third Floor Auditorium
Grégory Pierrot is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Connecticut at Stamford. His articles have been published in Studies in American Fiction, the African American Review, Criticism, and Notes and Queries. Registration required. REGISTER.

Also available as a virtual program on Zoom. Join the Zoom webinar at the scheduled time.

Art Show Opening
Thursday, October 21 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building
Third Floor Auditorium
Opening of Fragments of Memory art exhibit. Co-sponsored by the Stamford Art Association. (Pictured: When a Door Opens by Mary Ann Glass)

Gothic Elements in Toni Morrison's Beloved – with Blessing Diala-Ogamba
Wednesday, October 27 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom
Blessing Diala-Ogamba is a Professor of English at Coppin State University in Baltimore, MD. She is the co-author of Literary Crossroads: An International Exploration of Women, Gender, and Otherhood; and Emerging Perspectives on Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo. Registration required. REGISTER.

Zoom details will be included in registration confirmation.

Finale: Friends Author Series Event – Meet Farah Jasmine Griffin, Author of Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature
Monday, November 1 at 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building
Third Floor Auditorium
Farah Jasmine Griffin was the inaugural chair of the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department at Columbia University, where she is also William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature. She is the author of numerous books, including Read Until You Understand, and the recipient of a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship. She is also in the documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. (Morrison personally selected her as one of the few scholars to speak about her work in the film, which played in theaters and on PBS.) Book sale and signing. Registration required. Register.

Also available as a virtual program on Zoom. Join the Zoom webinar at the scheduled time.

(photo credit: Peggy Dillard Toone)

BOOK DISCUSSIONS
Pick up your free copy at any Ferguson Library location prior to discussions.

For virtual book discussions, Zoom meeting details will be provided in registration confirmations.

Weed Memorial & Hollander Branch
Monday, October 4 at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom

Main Library, DiMattia Building
Third Floor Board Room
Tuesday, October 12 at 7 p.m.
REGISTER

Mill River Park
Great Lawn
Friday, October 15 at 11 a.m.
REGISTER

Harry Bennett Branch
Monday, October 18 at 7 p.m. via Zoom
 

South End Branch
Monday, October 25 at 7 p.m.
(also on Zoom)
 

The Library will also host companion book discussions for children and teens. Our young reader’s selections are Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes and Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden. Copies of both titles are available at the library.

The People Could Fly: A Storytelling Program
Saturday, October 9 at 11 a.m. via Zoom
Selections from the book by Virginia Hamilton. Age 8 and up. Registration required.
Register.

Zoom login information will be included in confirmation email.

BOOK DISCUSSIONS

Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden
Tuesday, October 14 at 7 p.m. via Zoom
When Mariah and her young brother Zeke are suddenly freed from slavery, they set out on Sherman's long march through Georgia during the Civil War. Mariah wants to believe that the brutalities of slavery are behind them forever and that freedom lies ahead. But even hope comes at a cost, and as the treacherous march continues toward the churning waters of Ebenezer Creek, Mariah’s dreams are as vulnerable as ever. For teens in grades 6 and up. Registration required. Register.
Zoom login information will be provided in the confirmation email.

Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Tuesday, October 19 at 7 p.m. via Zoom
In 1870, Reconstruction brings big changes to the Louisiana sugar plantation where spunky ten-year-old Sugar has always lived, including her friendship with Billy, the son of her former master, and the arrival of workmen from China. For kids in grades 4 to 6. Registration required. Registration opening soon.

A Conversation with Jewell Parker Rhodes, Author of Sugar
Saturday, October 23 at 2 p.m. via Zoom
Jewell Parker Rhodes is an award-winning and bestselling author. In addition to Sugar, winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, she is also the author of Ninth Ward, winner of a Coretta Scott King Honor, and the New York Times-bestselling Ghost Boys. Grades 3 and up. Registration required. Registration opening soon.