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The Big Read: The Great Gatsby

Spruce Peak Arts, with the generous funding of The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read—a partnership with Arts Midwest—and partnership with Stowe Community Library, is thrilled to announce the launch of The Big Read: The Great Gatsby, a series of community events celebrating the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

This exciting multi-disciplinary project, running from October 2024 through May 2025, offers a deep dive into the novel’s exploration of the American Dream and the cultural influences of the 1920s, particularly jazz music.

The Big Read will bring together book lovers, history enthusiasts, music aficionados, and students through engaging discussions, workshops, and performances. The events aim to reflect on how themes of wealth, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness—so central to The Great Gatsby—still resonate in today’s world, particularly in our own Vermont community.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

Stowe Community Library Events

Book Discussions

Join us for lively book discussions at Stowe Library led by Adult Programming Librarian Molly Nesselrodt:

  • Friday, January 17, 2025, 5:00-6:30 PM: The Great Gatsby
    Celebrate the novel with 1920s-themed appetizers and drinks, followed by an engaging conversation. Attendees are encouraged to prepare a 1920s-inspired dinner using Clara’s Kitchen
  • Tuesday, April 15, 2025, 5:00-6:30 PM: The Great Gatsby and Plum Bun
    Explore both The Great Gatsby and Jessie Redmon Fauset’s Plum Bun, a Harlem Renaissance novel about race, identity, and opportunity.

Writing Workshop – March 27, 2025

“Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can!”:
A Writing Workshop Inspired by The Great Gatsby
We all know that The Great Gatsby is foundational in American literature, and it has inspired many writers over the 100 years since its release, including Ernest Hemingway. But there are also problematic aspects to its narrative when examined from a modern perspective. In this workshop we will work on some reimaginings of Fitzgerald’s influential novel, bringing its story into a modern–or even futuristic–setting. We’ll talk about ways it could be reenvisioned, pick specific scenes or symbols to use as prompts, and see what results. Bring something to write with and your imagination and we’ll create together.
Ann Dávila Cardinal is a Vermont author with an MFA in Writing in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her young adult novels include Five Midnights, Category Five, Breakup from Hell (based in Stowe), and You’ve Awoken Her, a horror comedy coming from HarperCollins in June 2025. Her middle grade debut, a biography of Latin trap artist Bad Bunny, came out September 3 from Macmillan. The Storyteller’s Death, her first novel for adults, released in October 2022 and won gold in the International Latino Book Awards. Her next adult novel, We Need No Wings, was released from Sourcebooks on September 10. Ann is also a part-time bookseller at Bear Pond Books in Stowe.

 

Jazz Story Walk – February 2025

Celebrate Black History Month with an exciting Story Walk through the village of Stowe. In collaboration with local businesses, the walk will feature selections from Sugar Hill: Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood and Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra. Bring your family, stroll through the village, and learn about the historical connections between jazz and the 1920s.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE LIBRARY EVENTS.

Upcoming The Big Read: The Great Gatsby Events

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