Join in the Big Read

Willa Cather, Edgar Allan Poe, Zora Neale Hurston, Tim O’Brien, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Portis, Dashiell Hammett – the Big Read Wichita has covered a lot of literary territory in seven years.

The next journey is “Into the Beautiful North,” Luis Alberto Urrea’s 2009 road novel about a 19-year-old who finds inspiration in “The Magnificent Seven” as she tries to defend her Mexican village from drug traffickers.

Lasting Thursday through Nov. 15, the regional reading party hosted by the Wichita Public Library promises to spark some tough but timely discussions about immigration, borders and culture. There will be talks, film showings and other events including a Day of the Dead Celebration from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Mid-America All-Indian Center.

Urrea also plans to join the conversation, in a lecture and book-signing from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 7 at Wichita State University’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th St. North. For the list of events, go to www.bigreadwichita.org.

A program of the National Endowment for the Arts managed by Arts Midwest, the Big Read is a simple concept that simultaneously promotes the solitary act of reading and strengthens the community spirit. In Wichita, it’s also become a treasured tradition of autumn.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Join in the Big Read."