If it’s April, it must be time for The Great Gatsby. This is the month that Charlottesville and Virginia have dedicated to reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic.
The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities lists the following events:
The Real Gatsby
Wednesday April 4, 2007
7:00 PM
Gordon Avenue Branch, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library
1500 Gordon Ave
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Caroline Preston, author of Gatsby’s Girl, discusses The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby: A Story of Love, the American Dream, and the Ideal Quest
Saturday April 7, 2007
2:00 PM
Northside Branch, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library
300 Albemarle Square
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Bryant Mangum, VCU Professor of English and editor of The Best Early Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, will discuss The Great Gatsby and the times in which it was written.
A Great Gatsby 1920’s Dance Program!
Saturday April 14, 2007
3:00 PM
Northside Branch, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library
300 Albemarle Square
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Celebrate The Great Gatsby and the 1920s! Lindy Hop! Charleston! Foxtrot! Dance workshop for all ages courtesy of Shergold Studios. Registration, which is required, begins March 31 at 434-973-7893.
Selected Readings of The Great Gatsby with Celebrity Readers
Friday April 20, 2007
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Gravity Lounge
103 South First St
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Celebrate The Great Gatsby with us at Gravity Lounge, off the Historic Charlottesville Downtown Mall. Celebrity Readers will read aloud their favorite Gatsby selections. Refreshments available for purchase. Sponsored by the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, in cooperation with the Virginia Foundation Center for the Book.
The Great Gatsby and the Dogwood Parade
Saturday April 21, 2007
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Downtown Charlottesville
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Celebrate The Great Gatsby at the Dogwood Parade. Drama students from Albemarle High School portray characters from the 1920’s. Sponsored by the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library in cooperation with the Virginia Foundation Center for the Book.
Discuss Gatsby and follow what other towns are doing to celebrate Fitzgerald at the readgatsby blog.
You can find resources and context for your discussion at The National Endowment for the Arts.
Of course, JMRL has oodles of resources, book group information, and events on their webpage.
And by all means, ignore Jane Smiley’s silly comments about The Great Gatsby in 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel. She gets it all wrong.
Filed under: authors, books, charlottesville, reading, virginia
[...] Jenny Levine wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptGordon Avenue Branch, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library 1500 Gordon Ave Charlottesville, VA 22903. Caroline Preston, author of Gatsby’s Girl, discusses The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby: A Story of Love, … [...]
Why Fitzgerald? and/or “The Great Gatsby”? Why not “John Steinbeck” and Cannery Row”? And why make it such a big event? (not that I have any problems with any of it- I don’t. I’m just curious.)
I don’t get it.
[...] I’m nothing if not a conformist. I’m just so happy we weren’t asked to read Cannery Row! So if you care to, read along with me: In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me [...]