The community-wide NEA Big Read Lakeshore led by Hope College and focusing on the post-apocalyptic novel “Station Eleven” will open with a TED-talk-styled celebration on Tuesday, Oct. 30, and continue through Thursday, Nov. 15, with more than 25 events for people of all ages.

In addition to the opening, highlights will include a keynote conversation with the book’s author, Emily St. John Mandel; dramatic readings; lectures; a walking tour focused on the 1871 fire that devastated Holland; two documentary films; art exhibitions; a themed dinner; and multiple book discussions throughout the area that will be open to the public.

There will also be presentations and activities for middle-grade students centered on the book “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, and for younger children centered on the book “Blackout” by John Rocco.  Rocco will be participating in events at Herrick District Library on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9-10.

The opening event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at Hope College’s Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland, and will provide literary and scientific contexts for “Station Eleven.”  The presenters will be Mark Hiskes, an English teacher at Holland Christian High School; Dr. Benjamin Kopek, an assistant professor of biology at Hope; and Dr. Marla Lunderberg, an associate professor of English at Hope.

The keynote presentation with Emily St. John Mandel will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical arts at Hope.  Structured as a conversation with Dr. Stephen Hemenway, professor of English, the event is being offered in partnership with the college’s Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series.

The complete schedule is available at hope.edu/bigread.  More about the books, including book-discussion material, and information on how to get involved are also available on the website.

Set in the Great Lakes region 20 years after a flu pandemic wiped out 99 percent of the world’s population, “Station Eleven” centers on a traveling troupe that performs Shakespeare’s plays to the communities that have arisen in North America in the event’s aftermath.  The narrative visits both the story’s post-apocalyptic present and the world before the pandemic, not only exploring the collapse of society and its aftermath but emphasizing the connections between people and the efforts of those seeking to do more than merely exist.

Lois Lowry’s “The Giver,” a 1993 Newberry-winning, young-adult novel, is set in a society which seems at first to be utopian but as the story progresses the main character realizes how dystopian it really is.  “Blackout,” a children’s picture book both written and illustrated by John Rocco, received a Caldecott Honor in 2012 and tells the story of a New York City family during an electrical power outage.

Copies of the three books are available at a reduced cost at Reader’s World and the Hope College bookstore, both in Holland, and at the Bookman in Grand Haven.

NEA Big Readneabigread.org, a national initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, showcases a diverse range of contemporary titles that reflect many different voices and perspectives, aiming to inspire conversation and discovery.  Hope is one of 79 nonprofit organizations to receive a grant to host an NEA Big Read project between September 2018 and June 2019.  The NEA awarded Hope $15,000 for the Lakeshore events, with additional funding and in-kind support provided by area organizations, businesses and individuals.

NEA Big Read Lakeshore is a Hope program with many community partner organizations, including the Alliance for Cultural and Ethnic Harmony, CultureWorks, Fellowship Reformed Church, Fennville District Library, Herrick District Library, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland Museum, Howard Miller Public Library, Loutit District Library, Ottawa Area Intermediate School District, Ready for School, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck-Douglas District Library and Western Theological Seminary.  The area schools involved are Allegan Public Schools, Allendale Public Schools, Black River Public School, Godwin Heights Public Schools, Hamilton Community Schools, Holland Christian Schools, Holland Public Schools, Saugatuck Public Schools, West Ottawa Public Schools and Zeeland Public Schools.

NEA Big Read Lakeshore was formed in 2014 and is directed by Dr. Deborah Van Duinen, who is an associate professor of English education at the college.  Formerly called Big Read Holland Area, it was renamed this year to reflect its expanded geographic scope.  The program puts on numerous events and book discussions centered on a specific novel each November. The previous four books were “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Things They Carried,” “Brother, I’m Dying” and “When the Emperor Was Divine.”