Public Information and Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 1, 2010
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
2010 ONE BOOK ONE NEBRASKA:
The Home Place
One Book One Nebraska 2010 invites
citizens across the state to read The Home
Place, by Wright Morris, a native of Central
City, Nebraska. This "photo-text" is an account in first-person narrative
and photographs of the one-day visit of Clyde Muncy to "the home place" at
Lone Tree, Nebraska. A ground-breaking work, it has been called "as near to
a new fiction form as you could get."
The
Nebraska Center for the Book board selected The
Home Place for Nebraska's statewide read to
celebrate the 100 th
anniversary of the birth of Wright Morris. Morris is regarded as one of
America's most gifted novelists and photographers. Internationally
recognized, he received the National Book Award in 1957 for
The Field of Vision and in 1981 for Plains Song .
Morris utilizes his Nebraska and Great Plains boyhood experiences as themes
in his work. 2010 One Book One Nebraska is hosted by the Lone Tree Literary
Society, www.wrightmorris.org, and
sponsored by a coalition of organizations including the Nebraska Center for
the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, Nebraska Library Association,
Nebraska Library Commission, and University of Nebraska Press.
Libraries across Nebraska are joining the Lone Tree
Literary Society and other literary and cultural organizations in planning
book discussions, activities, and events that will encourage Nebraskans to
read and discuss this book. The Lone Tree Literary Society will sponsor
activities throughout the year to help highlight One Book One Nebraska,
including the Wright Morris Centennial Year Conference on October 9, 2010.
Support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities are
available at
http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/onebook/2010/get_involved.htm.
Gov. Dave Heineman launched the statewide initiative
with a proclamation encouraging all residents of Nebraska to participate by
reading the book, joining community book discussion groups, and
participating in local community events. A Website, hosted at the Nebraska
Library Commission, can be accessed at
centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/onebook.
It features book discussion materials, a downloadable poster and press kit
to help with publicity, information for library loan of book club kits, and
a calendar of events. The site also includes information about how to
schedule an event in your community and how to apply for funding from the
Nebraska Humanities Council for a program on Wright Morris. See
www.nebraskahumanities.org/speakers/speakersindex.html and
www.nebraskahumanities.org/speakers/hrceligibility.html for application
and eligibility requirements.
For more information contact
Mary Jo Ryan, Nebraska
Library Commission Communications Coordinator, 402-471-3434, 800-307-2665.
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The Nebraska Center for the Book, a coalition of organizations and
individuals, believes One Book One Nebraska demonstrates how books and
reading connect people across time and place. In 2010, Nebraska
communities will come together through literature in community-wide
reading programs to explore this classic work by one of Nebraska's
best-loved authors. For more information about One Book One Nebraska,
see
onebookonenebraska.org.
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The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library
Commission and brings together the state's readers, writers,
booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars
to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and
stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The
Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library
Commission. As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission
is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans.
The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion,
development, and coordination of library and information services,
bringing together people and information. The most up-to-date news
releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on
the Library Commission home page,
nlc.nebraska.gov, search on News Releases.