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Alachua County Big Read

Join us Fall 2024-Spring 2025 for a celebration of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Alachua County Big Read

 

The University of Florida is partnering with the Alachua County Library District and local community organizations to celebrate Zora Neale Hurston and her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. With funding from an National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read grant, the Big Read will feature ten months of programs that use Hurston's novel as a lens through which to explore the intersections of environment, people, and history in Alachua County and the surrounding area. 

Beginning with a kick-off event in September 2024, programming will engage community members of Alachua County and UF in conversations about the novel, its themes, and how they relate to where we live. The community will have the opportunity to explore UF's archives, including Zora Neale Hurston’s papers, attend panels and presentations that explore themes of Black geographies and community heritage, participate in book discussions in multiple languages and formats, explore writing through a series of workshops, and celebrate Zora Neale Hurston's birthday.

A Conversation with: the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project and the Digital Black Heritage Trail, Wednesday, February 19, 6:30pm at the Matheson History Museum or online via Zoom.

Recording available soon

A slide adertising the ACCRP event features an image of a community quilt for victims in Gainesville. Each square represents an individual victim from Alachua County. The words "The future is in your hands just be brave enough to shape it," have been appliqued around the border along with two Sankofa birds at the bottom of the quilt, on either side of the words "Gainesville Alachua."

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