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Big Read comes to UA-PTC

The UA-Pulaski Tech community is participating in NEA Big Read, a community reading program and book discussion taking place Friday, October 13, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at BTC 222 on the Main Campus, or Friday, October 27, 6 p.m. at BTC 222.

The UA – PTC Ottenheimer Library on the Main Campus has 18 copies of Into the Beautiful North, by Luis Alberto Urrea. While supplies last, the book is available free of charge and may be picked up during normal operating hours, or you may obtain your own copy at a retail outlet or library.

To participate, sign in for a discussion session when you pick up your book. Participants should read the book and then attend one of the two discussion sessions.

Luis Alberto Urrea is the award-winning, bestselling author of numerous books of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction and a member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame. Raised in Tijuana and San Diego by a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea inherited a rich legacy of cultural lore and a love of storytelling from his extended family on both sides of the border, though he claims he’s “more interested in bridges” than borders. In his third novel, Into the Beautiful North, an idealistic 19-year-old woman is inspired by the film The Magnificent Seven to travel from her home in Mexico to the United States to enlist seven men who’ve left her town to return and help protect it from drug-dealing bandidos. It’s a “wonderful comic satire,” writes The Denver Post. “Urrea uses a breathtaking Mexican magical realism to construct a shimmering portrait of the United States.”

About NEA Big Read

An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Showcasing a diverse range of contemporary titles that reflect many different voices and perspectives, the NEA Big Read aims to inspire conversation and discovery.

NEA Big Read annually supports approximately 75 dynamic community reading programs, each designed around a single NEA Big Read selection. Since 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts has funded more than 1,300 Big Read programs, providing more than $18 million in grants to organizations nationwide. In addition, Big Read activities have reached every Congressional district in the country.