Big Read builds community

Reading is best done alone, but each October in Wichita demonstrates the power of a good book to bring people together, spark ideas and build community.

This time the Big Read Wichita is all about Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon,” the 1930 crime classic that will be the focus of events through Nov. 15.

Book discussions, writing workshops, theatrical presentations, showings of film noir classics, and showcases of music, hats and birds of prey will be among the creatively chosen events highlighting the gritty novel and its era. Gatherings will go on from Haysville and Derby to Whitewater and Newton, but featured events at the Central Library include a talk at 2:30 p.m. Sunday on American crime fiction by Wichita writer Gaylord Dold, this year’s honorary program chairman, and Oct. 17 showings of three films based on the book.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts managed by Arts Midwest and hosted locally by the Wichita Public Library. For details, go to bigreadwichita.org.

Then open a copy and join private eye Sam Spade in discovering the answer to his question, “What’s this bird, this falcon, that everybody’s all steamed up about?”

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Big Read builds community."