Friends of the Knox County Public Library

Archived Event: The Big Read 2016

You’re invited to join program hosts Friends of the Knox County Public Library, the Knox County Public Library, the Clarence Brown Theatre, and the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office as we read and discuss A Lesson Before Dying, the award-winning novel by Ernest J. Gaines, as a community.

BIG READ EVENTS

• Friday, February 5, noon: Big Read Kickoff Party, Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office (RSVP required for lunch)
• Sunday, February 7, 2 p.m.: Screening of Dead Man Walking, Lawson McGhee Library
• Thursday, February 11, 7 p.m.: Race, Poverty and the Death Penalty—Then and Now, a lecture by Dr. Stephen Bright, McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture
• Sunday, February 21, 2 p.m.: Screening of Say It Loud, UT’s John C. Hodges Library Auditorium
• Tuesday, February 23, 4 p.m.: Community Leaders Forum, Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office (see WBIR TV‘s coverage of the forum)
• Wednesday, February 24, 6 p.m.: Spiritual Songs: The History of the Negro Spiritual, Beck Cultural Exchange Center

COMMUNITY BOOK DISCUSSIONS

• Monday, February 8, 6:30 p.m.: All Over the Page, Lawson McGhee Library
• Tuesday, February 9, and Tuesday, February 23, 6 p.m.: South Knoxville Elementary School (a Great Schools Partnership Community School)
• Tuesday, February 16, 4 p.m.: KAT Station
• Monday, February 22, 10 a.m.: Bearden Branch Library
• Wednesday, February 24, noon: YWCA
• Thursday, February 25, 11 a.m.: Sequoyah Branch Library
• Thursday, February 25, 5 p.m.: Beaumont Elementary School (a Great Schools Partnership Community School)
• Sunday, February 28, 4 p.m.: Friends of the Library Members Only at the home of Claire Serrell
• Thursday, March 3, 1 p.m.: Halls Branch Library
• Monday, March 7, 6 p.m.: Cedar Bluff Branch Library

CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE

• Wednesday, February 24–Sunday, March 13: A Lesson Before Dying, a play by Romulus Linney
• Wednesday, February 24, 7:30 p.m.: Pay What You Wish Night
• Tuesday, March 1 and 8: Post-performance Salon Discussions
• Wednesday, March 2, 6 p.m.: CBT Family Feast
• March 2, 4, 9 and 11, 9:30 a.m.: Season for Youth Student Matinees
• Sunday March 13, following the 2 p.m. performance: Sunday Symposium with Dr. Michelle D. Commander

ABOUT ERNEST J. GAINES AND A LESSON BEFORE DYING

• About Ernest J. Gaines
• About A Lesson Before Dying
• A Conversation with Ernest J. Gaines (video)
• The Ernest J. Gaines Center at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette

ABOUT THE BIG READ

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

The Big Read aims to encourage reading for pleasure and enrichment by providing citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS