Wichita’s Big Read for 2020 is a feminist retelling of a classical myth
A novel based on Greek mythology is the selection for this year’s Wichita Big Read.
Wichita Public Library officials announced Thursday that “Circe,” by Madeline Miller, will be the city’s 13th Big Read.
The novel follows Circe, the banished daughter of Helios, as she hones her powers and interacts with famous mythical beings before a conflict with one of the most vengeful Olympians forces her to choose between the worlds of gods or mortals.
The New York Times called the novel “a bold and subversive retelling of the goddess’s story.”
Published in 2018 and quickly climbing to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, the novel is “both epic and intimate in its scope,” a Times review said, “recasting the most infamous female figure from ‘The Odyssey’ as a hero in her own right.”
Miller visited Wichita in September for a reading and book signing at the Advanced Learning Library.
The library received a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help finance this year’s Big Read, a program that encourages diverse audiences to read the same book and participate in events designed around its theme.
The event will run from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15. Find more information at bigreadwichita.org.
This year’s pick marks a return to fiction after last year’s memoir about a geobiologist — “Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren.
Library officials said they selected “Circe” because the Wichita Big Read hasn’t explored Greek mythology. “It’s exciting to see what programs and special events community partners are able to create based around the novel’s themes,” said Julie Sherwood, partnership and community engagement manager for the library.
Big Reads through the years
This year’s Big Read — “Circe” by Madeline Miller — marks 13 years for Wichita’s common-read program. Here’s a look back at previous selections:
2019: “Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren
2018: “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel
2017: “The Latehomecomer” by Kao Kalia Yang
2016: “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
2015: “Into the Beautiful North” by Luis Alberto Urrea
2014: “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett
2013: “True Grit” by Charles Portis
2012: “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2011: “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
2010: “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston
2009: “Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe” by Edgar Allan Poe
2008: “My Antonia” by Willa Cather
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 11:29 AM.
