As the Lake County Library’s 2023 NEA Big Read continues through March, the Library is proud to welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author of the NEA Big Read book selection, Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz, for a virtual author event featuring a poetry reading, conversation, and community Q&A.
The event will be held in-person on Saturday, March 18th, 2023 from 1-3 pm at the Mendocino College Lake Center Round Room in Lakeport, with Diaz attending virtually from her home state of Arizona. To ensure the event is accessible to all Lake County residents, the event will also be live streamed from each library branch in Lakeport, Clearlake, Middletown, and Upper Lake. Lake County residents may also join the Zoom webinar from home by visiting the following link at the time of the event: https://lakecounty.zoom.us/s/94859414760
Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, Postcolonial Love Poem is a collection of poetry by Arizona poet Natalie Diaz—who is Mojave, an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe, Latinx, and queer. The poems push against the forces of racism, environmental destruction, addiction, and mental illness with the power of desire, love, and language. From publisher Gray Wolf Press, “Postcolonial Love Poem is an anthem of desire against erasure. Natalie Diaz’s brilliant second collection demands that everybody carried in its pages—bodies of language, land, rivers, suffering brothers, enemies, and lovers—be touched and held as beloveds.”
This NEA Big Read 2023 author event is sponsored by the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College, and Mendocino College Lake Center, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Mendocino College program offerings and services have grown to reflect the changing nature and needs of our communities. Continuing to make a significant impact on the economy in our region year after year, the college supports a vibrant performing arts venue, targeting training in emergency services, firefighting, construction, and other technical careers; and advanced higher educational opportunities for all.
To view the full schedule of NEA Big Read events, go to http://www.lakecountybigread.com/. Follow the Big Read on Facebook by visiting https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountyBigRead/.
The NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, which seeks to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. The NEA Big Read showcases a diverse range of contemporary titles that reflect many different voices and perspectives, aiming to inspire conversation and discovery.
Visit arts.gov/neabigread for more information about the NEA Big Read. Organizations interested in applying for an NEA Big Read grant in the future should visit Arts Midwest’s at https://artsmidwest.org/ for more information.
