New York City Big Read in April:
How to Get Lost in Washington Square 
Highlights:
•I Hate Henry James
•The Master and Washington Square – A Discussion with Colm Tóibín
•Reading Group— led by Jennie A. Kassanoff
•Cynthia Ozick and Michael Cunningham in Conversation
Join us and our nine New York City cultural organization partners throughout the month of April as we celebrate Washington Square by Henry James, part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ initiative to restore reading to the center of American culture, The Big Read. Washington Square has just been added to the NEA’s roster of Big Read volumes, and we are thrilled that they have asked us to be one of the first organizations to celebrate it. There’s no better place to read Washington Square than in New York.
The Center for Fiction has long championed the appreciation of Henry James as part of our annual roster of reading groups and lectures. We are pleased that we can bring some of our knowledge and that of our teachers, literary colleagues, and partnering organizations to you, the broader public.
For our kickoff event you’ll enjoy riveting discussion hosted by our partner, NYU’s Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, followed throughout the month with special talks at Barnes & Noble locations across downtown. Together with the Metropolitan Playhouse, you’ll be treated to a reading of the Heiress, James’s novel translated to the theater. To get everyone reading and talking, we welcome you to participate in our reading groups, hosted by partners Caring Community, the Neighborhood Preservation Center, and the New York Society Library.
Washington Square and James’s other novels have been made into acclaimed plays and films, so we will complete our celebration with movie screenings and play readings at various locations around town. We will also have historic walking tours of Washington Square hosted by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and events at places such as the Merchant’s House Museum, a perfectly preserved 19th century house in Greenwich Village. So perfect, in fact, that it was used as the basis for the set of the Oscar-winning 1949 film The Heiress, based on Washington Square. Of course, we will show the film there on April 21st. And you won’t want to skip out on another James adaptation, Daisy Miller, at Brooklyn Academy of Music, directed by auteur extraordinaire Peter Bogdonavich. Cinephiles can also satisfy their cravings with the Heiress and the more modern Washington Square at NYU Cantor Film Center.
For the full event listings,
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For event locations,
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For more information
call (212) 755-6710 or email info@centerforfiction.org
For the full event listings,
click here
For event locations,
click here
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The program is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.
For more information on The Big Read, click here: www.neabigread.org
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