A literature initiative for
the whole community
Featuring
Circe by Madeline Miller
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
San Diego:
Write Out Loud – an organization founded in 2007 with a commitment to inspire,
challenge and entertain by reading literature aloud for a live audience – announces a
month long celebration of the novel, Circe by Madeline Miller and Mythology by Edith
Hamilton. This marks the 7th year that the National Endowment for the Arts has selected
Write Out Loud to bring the NEA BIG READ to San Diego County.
Community Events In April Celebrating NEA BIG READ
Join fellow San Diegans in exploring Madeline Miller’s sweeping novel Circe and Edith
Hamilton’s Mythology as part of the NEA Big Read. Experience events, performances,
art exhibits, book discussions, a writing contest, and even Tea Tasting with the Sorceress.
Most events and programs are FREE. Details for all the NEA BIG READ events can be
found at https://writeoutloudsd.com/nea-big-read-circe/
The largest aspect of this initiative – READ IMAGINE CREATE – includes distributing
over 4,400 books to teens, as well as providing literary and visual art workshops in 16
area schools and 3 libraries. A Celebration of Student Creations inspired by the books –
will take place on April 23rd at 6:00pm at San Diego Central Library, Downtown and
will be livestreamed. https://youtube.com/live/SPjeq8R918U?feature=share
WOL Artistic Director, Veronica Murphy shared “We have been working for months with
students throughout the county, first providing books, followed by workshops to help
students express their own personal experience with the stories and we have learned that
young people LOVE Mythology. However, The NEA BIG READ is not just for teens. It’s
for everyone. April will be filled with book discussions, workshops, art displays,
performances, readings, witchcraft and a Celebration of Student Creations inspired by
the books.
About CIRCE and author Madeline Miller
Author Madeline Miller is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two novels: The
Song of Achilles, which won the Orange Women’s Prize for Fiction 2012, and Circe,
which was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019. Her books have been
translated into over thirty two languages. Miller holds an MA in Classics from Brown
University, studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she
focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms, and taught Latin, Greek, and
Shakespeare to high school students for over a decade.
Her novel, Circe was lauded by Ann Patchett as “An epic spanning thousands of years
that’s also a keep-you-up-all-night page turner.” In the house of Helios, god of the sun and
mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child–neither powerful
like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for
companionship, she discovers that she does possess power: the power of witchcraft,
which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft,
tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of
mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous
Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the
wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most
terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must
summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods
she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.
About Mythology and author Edith Hamilton
Edith Hamilton was an internationally known author who was one of the most renowned
classicists of her era. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College she also studied in Germany at
the University of Leipzig and the University of Munich. Hamilton is best known for her
essays and best-selling books on ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Her collection,
Mythology, shares timeless tales of gods and heroes in this bestselling A-to-Z
encyclopedia detailing classic myths and legends, succeeding like no other book in
bringing to life the Greek, Roman and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western
culture—the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity
to the present.
It follows the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. We hear the tales
of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, and mighty King Midas. We discover
the origins of the names of the constellations. And we recognize reference points for
countless works of art, literature and culture, from Freud’s Oedipus complex to Wagner’s
Ring Cycle of operas to Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra.
In addition to THE NEA BIG READ, Write Out Loud serves over 30,000 people annually with
their core programs: In their six show season of Story Concerts, – Poefest – a celebration of
Edgar Allan Poe and other writers of the macabre, Kamishibi StoryBox Theatre for elementary
students; Poetry Out Loud for high school students; Let Your Voice Be Heard – Student Poetry
Initiative, Ripples From Walden Pond – a one-man play about Henry David Thoreau; Stories for
Seniors and TwainFest, an annual free family celebration of 19th Century Literature.