My Ántonia by Willa Cather

My Ántonia Selected for NEA’s Big Read

Introduces “Where We Live” Theme for 2024-25 Grant Cycle

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced in October that Willa Cather’s My Ántonia was among the fifty titles selected for their 2024 NEA Big Read. An initiative of the NEA in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read supports community reading programs designed around a single NEA Big Read book. 

The aim of the program is to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Managed by Arts Midwest, this initiative offers grants to support innovative community reading programs. Applicants will host book discussions, writing workshops, and creative activities that celebrate unique aspects of their community, using as inspiration one of 50 available NEA Big Read books. These 50 titles are drawn from the NEA Big Read archive and showcase a wide range of genres, perspectives, and geographic regions.

Their press release reads: “A great book combines enrichment with enchantment. It awakens our imagination and enlarges our humanity. It can offer harrowing insights that somehow console and comfort us. Whether you’re a regular reader already or making up for lost time, thank you for joining the NEA Big Read.”

The “Where We Live” theme of the 2024 grant program is to inspire meaningful conversations, celebrate local creativity, elevate a wide variety of voices and perspectives, and build stronger connections in each community. Nonprofits are encouraged to apply for matching grants from $5,000 to $20,000 each. The Intent to Apply deadline is Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Visit Arts Midwest’s website for complete grant guidelines and to apply.

“Community is at the heart of the NEA Big Read program, and we are excited to see how this new theme inspires applicants to explore what that means, not only by bringing a community together around a common read, but forging deeper connections between people and place,” said Amy Stolls, the NEA’s literary arts director. 

As part of the “Where We Live” theme, applicants will explore one or more of the following sub-themes: 

  • The Environment—a community’s physical/natural surroundings
  • The People—a community’s ancestors and/or current members (including, for example, those who recently arrived, whose familial roots go back generations, and those who left but still feel its pull)
  • Industry and Culture—landmarks, work centers, traditions, and other aspects that define a community
  • History—aspects of the past that have influenced a community, including legends
  • Alternate Realities—an imagining of what a community could be or become

The NEA Big Read welcomes applications from a variety of eligible organizations, including first-time applicants; organizations serving communities of all sizes, including rural and urban areas; and organizations with small, medium or large operating budgets. Read more about eligibility in the guidelines.

Applicant organizations will collaborate with a broad range of partners—including a community library if the applicant itself is not a library—to offer events and activities that engage the whole community.

Resources

About Arts Midwest

Arts Midwest believes that creativity has the power to inspire and unite humanity. Based in Minneapolis, Arts Midwest grows, gathers, and invests in creative organizations and communities throughout the nine-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Native Nations that share this geography. One of six nonprofit United States Regional Arts Organizations, Arts Midwest’s history spans more than 35 years. For more information, visit artsmidwest.org.