Nevada City, Calif. March 12, 2021 – Nevada County Reads & Writes will wrap up its National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program in celebration of The Round House by Louise Erdrich with a virtual keynote address, Native Voices on Saturday, March 27th at 1pm. The NEA Big Read in Nevada County is presented by the Nevada County Community Library in partnership with the Nevada County Arts Council and the Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Book to Action.  

The online Finale event will feature speakers such as Herman Fillmore, Culture/Language Resources Department of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, Shelly Covert, Spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, Tribal Council member, and Executive Director for the California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project, or CHIRP, and keynote speaker  Suzan Shown Harjo, President of The Morning Star Institute. Poet, writer, lecturer and policy advocate, who has helped Native Peoples protect sacred places and recover more than one million acres of land.

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. Nevada County is one of 84 communities nationwide participating in the NEA Big Read from September 2020-June 2021. From February to March 2021 our community will celebrate The Round House by Louise Erdrichwith a full calendar of events including book discussions for all age groups throughout the county, several storywalks around the different towns in our area, featuring Nisenan and Native storybooks. Writing workshops will be held virtually to encourage adults and teens to reflect on their own narratives. We will also be hosting several Nisenan cultural programs so we can all learn more about the history of our area.

Book to Action is a program of the California Library Association, supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

For information on Nevada County Reads & Writes and the NEA Big Read in Nevada County please contact Megan Lloyd, Adult Services Librarian at megan.lloyd@co.nevada.ca.us or (530) 470-2677.also can view a full calendar of events for the NEA Big Read in Nevada County at nevadacountyreads.com.

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