Highlights

Speakers for Your Next NEA Big Read

NEA Big Read 2022
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The National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Reads initiative supports more than 1,600 dynamic community reading programs that have been attended by over 5.7 million Americans. The NEA is now accepting grant applications for 2021 Big Read, so this is a perfect time to pick the next book to share with your community. These PRHSB authors are all current selections in the NEA Big Reads library and have brought communities around the country together through thought-provoking discussions sparked by great books.

2022-2023

Charles Yu

National Book Award-winning author of Interior Chinatown

Charles Yu Interior Chinatown

Charles Yu is the author of the critically-acclaimed novel and National Book Award winner Interior Chinatown. Yu’s Interior Chinatown, one of the NEA Big Read selections, is a genre-bending masterpiece that explores the confining stereotypes of Asian Americans in Hollywood and in American culture more broadly. In his entertaining and thought-provoking lectures, Yu speaks to audiences of all kinds about the Asian American experience, representation and stereotypes in film and television, and the unique power of science fiction to address the human condition.

Yaa Gyasi 

Author of Homegoing and recipient of the National Book Foundation’s ‘5 Under 35’ award

Yaa Gyasi Pitch

Recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 2016 “5 Under 35” Award Yaa Gyasi is the author of Transcendent Kingdom and the NEA Big Read selection Homegoing. Her brilliant and relevant novel Homegoing is a sweeping epic that moves through histories and geographies and opens eyes to the origins of slavery, racism, and Black American identity. An illuminating speaker, Gyasi captivates audiences with her sincerity and compassion as she explores contemporary craft, cultural identity, and the complex racial landscape of America’s past and present.

Tommy Orange

Bestselling novelist and author of There There

Tommy Orange Pitch

Tommy Orange is the author of Pulitzer Prize finalist and NEA Big Read selection There There, a multi-generational, relentlessly paced story that introduces readers to a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. Orange’s exceptional debut novel shows us violence and recovery, hope and loss, identity and power, dislocation and communion, and the beauty and despair woven into the history of a nation and its people. In dynamic and frank in-conversation programs, Orange talks about his craft, the writing process, and Native American history and culture.

Upcoming Webinars for Potential Applicants

October 27, 2021 at 12pm EST/11am CST/9pm PST
How to Apply for the NEA Big Read
Join a webinar all about applying for an NEA Big Read grant. Hear from a moderated panel about various topics you might consider as you build your application, and hear from four previous grantee organizations.
November 16, 2021 at 12pm EST/11am CST/9am PST
All About the NEA Big Read Books
Join a webinar discussion about the 15 books that are a part of the NEA Big Read for 2022-2023, including insights from the authors.

 Contact us for more information about speakers for NEA Big Reads.

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