The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read is a national initiative that aims to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Managed by Arts Midwest, this program provides grants to support dynamic community reading programs, each designed around a single book selection. By bringing people together through literature, the NEA Big Read fosters meaningful conversations and a deeper appreciation for diverse perspectives.
Old Dominion’s Legacy with the NEA Big Read
Old Dominion University has a proud history of being a two-time recipient of the NEA Big Read Grant in 2009-10 and 2018-19. Our previous themes have explored various social issues, fostering community engagement and enriching the cultural landscape of our region. This legacy underscores our ongoing commitment to using literature as a catalyst for important conversations and community building. Our past successes with the NEA Big Read have laid a strong foundation for this year’s focus on health equity, and we look forward to continuing this tradition of impactful programming.
Big Read 2009
Big Read 2018
Health Equity: Where We Live
As the 2024-25 recipients of the NEA Big Read grant, our common read is Rebekah Taussig’s powerful memoir Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body, a profound exploration of disability, identity, and resilience, that offers a poignant and insightful perspective on navigating the world as a person with a disability. It also allows us to explore the theme of “Health Equity: Where We Live.” Under this theme, all programming will highlight the critical intersections between health and community well-being. Through a series of events, discussions, and activities, we aim to explore how the environments we live in influence our health outcomes and what we can do as a community to promote equitable health opportunities for all.
Next Event + Featured Author
Join us Monday, October 21 at 6 p.m.!
Healing through the Land is a Community Conversation dedicated to exploring the interconnectedness of land stewardship, health equity, and Virginia’s Indigenous citizens. This discussion is deeply rooted in the region's historical, cultural, and environmental dynamics from the lived and learned experiences of Indigenous citizens within the region. It seeks to understand the holistic relationship Indigenous communities maintain with their environment and its profound impact on their health and well-being.
The event will be held in the Big Blue room located inside of Chartway Arena.
Rebekah Taussig will challenge everything you think you know about disability as she invites us into her experience of living in a body that looks and moves differently than most. “What would it mean for disabled folks if society saw us as acceptable, equal, valuable parts of the whole?” she writes in her memoir, Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient DisabledBody (HarperOne).
Events
*More NEA Big Read events at ODU coming soon. Check back for updates!
- Old Dominion University Libraries
- Brickell Medical Sciences Library, part of ODU Libraries.
- Virginia Beach Public Libraries
- Newport News Public Libraries
- Poquoson Public Libraries
- Suffolk Public Libraries
Serving Virginia Department of Education Region II, which encompasses the following cities and counties:
- Accomack County
- Chesapeake
- Franklin
- Hampton
- Isle of Wight County
- Newport News
- Norfolk
- Northampton County
- Poquoson
- Portsmouth
- Southampton County
- Suffolk
- Virginia Beach
- Williamsburg-James City County
- York County
- Arts@ODU
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Chesapeake Regional Hospital
- Chesapeake Regional Foundation
- College of Arts & Letters
- Darden College of Education & Professional Studies
- Hampton Roads Community Foundation
- ODU Educational Foundation
- ODU Libraries
- ODU Literary Festival
- ODU Police Department
- Office of Educational Accessibility
- Office of Community Engagement
- Office of the Provost
- Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at ODU
- Naro Collection at ODU Libraries
- Newport News Public Libraries
- Norfolk Public Libraries
- Poquoson Public Libraries
- Suffolk Public Libraries
- University Communications
- Virginia Beach Mayor’s Council on Disabilities
- Virginia Beach Public Libraries
- Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities
- Virginia Department of Criminal Justice
Join the Big Read
Advisory Board
View members of the advisory board for the NEA Big Read at Old Dominion University by clicking here.
Contact Us
Have questions about the NEA Big Read at ODU? For more information and general inquiries, contact bigreadgrant@abadiadetortoreos.com or 757-683-3141.