MOUNT VERNON – There’s a little bit of something for everyone this week at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County. The Library continues its NEA Big Read celebration of Sandra Cisneros’ novel "The House on Mango Street" with a busy week of activities in dance, comics, art and creative writing and an ongoing book giveaway.
On Tuesday, March 29, “Mango Street in the MakerSpace” craft bags are available on the children’s floor of the main library, while supplies last. This week’s project teaches teens how to create intricately decorated Dia de los Muertos sugar candy skulls. The children's floor is the second floor at 201 North Mulberry St., Mount Vernon.
Wednesday, March 30, from 5-6 p.m., get moving with the Kenyon College Department of Dance and Drama at Memorial Ballroom on 112 E. High St., Mount Vernon, third floor, with “Dance on Mango Street.” This movement workshop is open to people of all ages and abilities, and will provide creative techniques for storytelling through dance.
Thursday, March 31, at 10 a.m., young readers are invited to the “Storytime with Miss Morgan” NEA Big Read series on the library’s YouTube channel. This week, we’ll be reading "My Papi Rides a Motorcycle," by Isabelle Quintero. Read along with Miss Morgan while she follows Isabel’s adventures exploring her neighborhood on her father’s motorbike.
Creative writers, sharpen your pencils (or fire up your laptops…) for Writing in La Galeria: Ekphrastic Expression on Friday, April 1, from 4 - 5 p.m. at Gund Gallery, 101 ½ College Drive, Gambier. Patrons are encouraged to bring their love of art and writing to this interactive workshop, where they will compose poetry and prose in response to works by LatinX artists.
The week’s capstone event is Saturday, April 2, with “Tales from La Vida” a virtual visit from LatinX Comics scholar and writer Frederick Luis Aldama, aka Professor Latinx. Aldama is an award-winning author of fiction, comics and scholarly books. At the University of Texas at Austin, he holds the Jacob & Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the humanities and is director of the Latinx Pop Lab. He is also a distinguished university professor at Ohio State University. This interactive drawing and writing workshop will invite patrons to discuss why representation matters, teach some concepts and tools for shaping stories with verbal devices, and culminate in participants rendering a one-page, word-drawn story. This workshop is suitable for participants age 12 and up, and patrons can register at https://tinyurl.com/yxu5k9rp. For a preview of Aldama’s work, visit the main library and pick up a free copy of his collection of LatinX/ChicanX comics, "Tales from La Vida" (while supplies last).
Our ongoing NEA Book giveaway of Sandra Cisneros’ "The House on Mango Street" continues at all PLMVKC locations. Our Main Library supplemental book giveaways include Cisneros’ poetry collection, "My Wicked, Wicked Ways" and Sara Borjas’ collection of poems, "Heart Like A Window, Mouth Like a Cliff." Borjas will lead a poetry workshop at the Brown Family Environmental Center on Saturday, April 9. A full listing of additional NEA Big Read program events is available at https://www.knox.net/nea-big-read.html.
As with all library programs, the NEA Big Read Events are free and open to the public. For more information about the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, visit www.knox.net, email knoxwrites1@gmail.com or call 740-392-2665, Ext 259.
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. For more information about the NEA Big Read, including book and author information, podcasts, and videos, visit arts.gov/neabigread.
