Erica Lux, W@W co-director, and Teresa Patterson, Tyner Academy library media specialist, pose with the 600 copies of Silver Sparrow reserved for Tyner Academy students
Chattanooga State's award-winning Writers@Work program has partnered with the Hamilton County Department of Education to present the NEA's Big Read 2017, featuring Tayari Jones’s novel Silver Sparrow.
The NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, and it is designed to promote reading within a community.
Two thousand copies of Silver Sparrow are slated for distribution to area high schools such as East Hamilton, Sequoyah, Brainerd, Soddy-Daisy, Howard, Tyner, and others.
In addition to the books destined for local schools, W@W will also be giving away copies of the novel to interested book clubs at the Big Read Kickoff Event on Jan. 19, at The Camp House, 149 East MLK Boulevard, in downtown Chattanooga. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with Ms. Jones’s personal reading from Silver Sparrow followed by a book signing. A dessert reception and musical entertainment will follow with the opportunity for attendees to speak with Ms. Jones about her writing life.
Other Big Read events will follow in February and March, and the program will conclude with a week-long visit by Ms. Jones in April. All events will be free and open to the public.