The Big Read 2021

Schedule of Events Book Discussions Virtual Art Exhibition Keynote Speaker: Joy Harjo

About the Big Read at FCC

An American Sunrise poems by Joy Harjo Poet Laureate of the United States Fresno City College recently received a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read initiative. The Big Read project brings communities together around the shared activity of reading and discussing a book. FCC has collaborated with the Fresno County Public Library, FCC Art Space Gallery, and the SCCCD Foundation to make this event possible. This year’s Big Read focuses on the book, An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo, the current US Poet Laureate and the first Native American to receive this achievement.

The kick-off will be on March 4 and finale with Joy Harjo will be on April 24, 2021.

Our selection of Joy Harjo’s book, An American Sunrise, seeks to provide inspiration for the formation and reclamation of voice by Native Americans and other marginalized communities in California’s Central Valley. Our Big Read project will highlight Native American issues by engaging local cultural communities as both audience and participants in a series of book discussions, dance, music, readings, storytelling, and visual arts activities centered on the text.

About the book

"In this stunning collection, Joy Harjo finds blessings in the abundance of her homeland and confronts the site where the Mvskoke people, including her own ancestors, were forcibly displaced. From her memory of her mother’s death, to her beginnings in the Native rights movement, to the fresh road with her beloved, Harjo’s personal life intertwines with tribal histories to create a space for renewed beginnings" (from the publisher).

Schedule of Events

Schedule
Date & Time	Event
Thu, March 4, 12:00 pm	Kick-Off: Community Voices - A Celebration of An American Sunrise The Big Read Kick-Off will feature readings from An American Sunrise and discussion about the book, poetry, and the position of poet laureates by an expert panel of local artists. A land acknowledgement will precede the panel. Panelists: Mr. Juan Felipe Herrera, 21st Poet Laureate of the United States Ms. Marisol Baca, current Fresno Poet Laureate and FCC instructor Mr. Lee Herrick, previous Fresno Poet Laureate and FCC instructor Ms. Delaney R. Whitebird Olmo (Kashia Pomo, Karuk and Yurok), an advanced student in the MFA Program at CSU-Fresno. Join the Kick-Off Event
March 11 –April 22	*Book discussions of An American Sunrise.* Book discussions will be hosted by FCC and the Fresno County Public Library. Discussions will be held on Zoom. Visit the Book Discussions section for days, times, and links to join a discussion group. If you would like to request a free book, please complete this form.
March 11 - April 30	Virtual Art Exhibition: All Words Have Roots Here All Words Have Roots Here is a group exhibition that draws connections between visual art, language, cultural expression, and ecology, expanding the reach of “An American Sunrise” to explore its themes of loss, memory, time, land, and return through art, cultural materials, and poetry by Native American artists indigenous to and those living in California. The phrase all words have roots here is a line from Joy Harjo’s poem “Break My Heart.” Exhibition hosted by FCC’s Art Space Gallery and online. View the Exhibition
Thu, March 11, 7:00 pm	Tommy Orange, author of There There Tommy Orange is an American novelist and a writer from Oakland, California. His first book There There was one of the finalists for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. Orange was also the recipient of a 2019 American Book Award. Orange is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations of Oklahoma. This event is part of the Reedley College Literary Arts Speakers Series. It is free and open to the public. For questions, please contact deborah.lyons@reedleycollege.edu. Join the Event
Fri, April 16, 7:00 pm & Fri, April 23, 7:00 pm	Documentary Screenings: “Sharing Cultures: Central Valley Storytelling” Short films created by FCC visual anthropology students, Native and Indigenous students, and community members will premier on CMAC's Education Channel on two nights. Ways to watch: Comcast Xfinity Ch. 94, AT&T U-Verse Ch. 99, Cablecast app on Roku or Apple TV; or via the livestream. Watch the Livestream
Sat, April 17, 10:00 am	Virtual Dance & Music Event: “Shaking of Shells, the Drumming of Feet” Local Native American artists will demonstrate how dance and musical traditions evolved and remain a vital part of the culture today. These performances, grounded by themes from Joy Harjo’s book as it relates to the significance of dance to Native American communities, will serve as educational sessions led by community members versed in the traditions of dance and music. Register for the Dance & Music performance
Sat, April 24	Land, memory, sacredness, roots, return This breakout session, led by Fresno Poet Laureate Marisol Baca, invites young Native American poets and writers to share their work and participate in a Q&A with Baca and other published poets.
Sat, April 24, 2:00 pm	Virtual Keynote Speaker: Joy Harjo Acclaimed author, musician, and activist, Joy Harjo, will keynote the Big Read program. Don't miss the opportunity to hear from the current US Poet Laureate and author of An American Sunrise. Registration Information Image © Shawn Miller

Book Discussions

Request a free copy of An American Sunrise or visit FCPL's website to borrow the book now.

March 8 through April 30, the Fresno County Public Library is offering unlimited checkouts of An American Sunrise in ebook and audiobook formats through its OverDrive/Libby app. This means, no wait times!

All book discussions are free and open to the public.

FCC Book Discussions Schedule
Date & Time	Meeting Information
Thu, March 11, 12:00pm	Book discussions are hosted by FCC faculty, staff, and students. Register for the book discussion on March 11.
Thu, March 18, 12:00pm	Led by Sallie Saiz, FCC English faculty. Register for the book discussion on March 18.
Thu, March 25, 12:00pm	Led by Kristen Norton's English 3 students. This discussion will use Joy Harjo's text as a counter narrative to Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act. Register for the book discussion on March 25.
Thu, April 8, 12:00pm	The Darkness & The Light: Students Present An American Sunrise Students from Kenneth Chacón’s English classes will present their “3rd boxes,” a term used in class to mean their thoughts and their research, after a close reading of Harjo’s book. Literature students from English 12 and 40 will share their analysis of Harjo’s poetry and tie it to the literature they’ve been reading, namely that of the Bible and that of “The Demon and The Angel.” English 1A students will share their research on Harjo herself, the Mvskoke people, and the Indian Removal Act. Register for the book discussion on April 8.
Thu, April 15, 12:00pm	Led by the FCC Creative Writing Club. This discussion will focus on how to use a book as a starting point for generating your own writing. CWC students will talk about Joy Harjo's work, how it led to their own writing, and will read the writing they wrote in response to Harjo's. Register for the book discussion on April 15.
Thu, April 22, 12:00pm	Led by FCC Intro to Literature students, Esmeralda Arango Perez, Janessa Martinez, Araceli Santos-Bautista, and Hannah Valadoa, and FCC English Faculty, Brenda Venezia. This discussion will focus on the role of literature and publishing in shaping cultural identity and historical memory, exploring Harjo’s approach, in An American Sunrise, to telling the truth about history through a collage of voices and texts. Register for the book discussion on April 22.

Fresno County Public Library Book Discussions Schedule
Date & Time	Meeting Information
March 11 - April 22, 4:00 pm	Every Thursday from March 11 through April 22. Hosted by FCPL's Literacy Department. Call the FCPL Literacy Department at, 559.600.9243, to register for this discussion group.
Sat, March 20, 2:00 pm	Hosted by the Woodward Park Library. Register for March 20 discussion group.
Sat, April 17, 2:00 pm	Hosted by the Woodward Park Library. Register for April 17 discussion group.
Thu, April 22	Hosted by the Tollberry Book Club. Email mohaveblue@gmail.com to register for this discussion group.
Wed, April 28, 2:00 pm	Hosted by the WoW book club and Resource for Independence, Central Valley (RICV). Email Jessica.dedmon@fresnolibrary.org to register for this discussion group.

Virtual Art Exhibition

All Words Have Roots Here

Dates: March 11 - April 30, 2021

Installed in the Art Space Gallery and presented online. A link to view the exhibition will be made available soon.

All Words Have Roots Here is a group exhibition that draws connections between visual art, language, cultural expression, and ecology, expanding the reach of “An American Sunrise” to explore its themes of loss, memory, time, land, and return through art, cultural materials, and poetry by Native American artists indigenous to and those living in California. The phrase all words have roots here is a line from Joy Harjo’s poem “Break My Heart.”

The exhibition is co-organized by Elena Harvey Collins, Art Space Gallery curator, and Dr. Leece Lee-Oliver (Blackfeet and Choctaw), Director of American Indian Studies and Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at CSU-Fresno.

Visit the Exhibition Page

Keynote Speaker: Joy Harjo

We are excited to welcome Joy Harjo as the keynote speaker for the Big Read program. Her address will be our final event on Saturday, April 24, at 2:00pm.

This keynote event is free, open to the public, and will be presented virtually.

About Joy Harjo:

Writer, musician, and current Poet Laureate of the United States Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. An American Sunrise—her eighth collection of poems—revisits the homeland from which her ancestors were uprooted in 1830 as a result of the Indian Removal Act. It is a “profound, brilliantly conceived song cycle, celebrating ancestors, present and future generations, historic endurance and fresh beginnings,” wrote critic Jane Ciabattari. “Rich and deeply engaging, An American Sunrise creates bridges of understanding while reminding readers to face and remember the past” (Washington Post). Harjo’s many awards include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas; the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America; the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets; and two National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships. “To read the poetry of Joy Harjo is to hear the voice of the earth, to see the landscape of time and timelessness, and, most important, to get a glimpse of people who struggle to understand, to know themselves, and to survive” (Poetry Foundation). “Joy Harjo is a giant-hearted, gorgeous, and glorious gift to the world," said author Pam Houston. "Her belief in art, in spirit, is so powerful, it can't help but spill over to us—lucky readers” (From the NEA website).