The Great Michigan Read

By Jan Fedewa, Executive Director
Michigan Humanities Council

Is it the book, the resources, the programs, the touring exhibit, the web site, the documentary, or the author's global presence that is capturing the attention of hundreds of thousands of Michiganians? There is no definitive answer. It's all of the above that is driving Michigan residents to open their copies of The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway and to be reintroduced or reacquainted with a classic piece of American literature literally made in Michigan.

The results of a survey released by the National Endowment for the Arts reinforced the need for the Council to be more engaged in providing literary opportunities for Michigan citizens. According to "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America," fewer than half of American adults are now reading novels, short stories, plays or poetry. The decline of 10 percentage points in literary readers from 1982 to 2002 represents a loss of 20 million potential readers. According to the report, this rate of decline has nearly tripled in the last decade.

These figures challenged us to create a signature program that encouraged reading and rediscovering literature. We answered the challenge with, The Great Michigan Read, a community reading program for the entire state featuring Hemingway's The Nick Adams Stories.

Selecting the right book for The Great Michigan Read was essential. We organized a committee with varying backgrounds and ethnicity to review books we might use in this initiative. The committee developed the following criteria for book selection:

1. Pertinent to the Michigan Humanities Council's theme, "Michigan People, Michigan Places; Our Stories, Our Lives."
2. Relevant to contemporary life and likely to spark dialogue.
3. Interesting and engaging for a statewide audience.
4. Mindful of multiple perspectives and interdisciplinary connections.
5. Reflective of the values of the Michigan Humanities Council and its mission.
6. Reasonable in length (about 300 pages).
7. Currently in print.
8. Preferably by a living Michigan author.

After reviewing more than 55 works, the committee chose The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway spent most of his first 22 summers in Northern Michigan, and the character, Nick Adams, is inspired partly by his experiences. Like Hemingway, Nick summers in Northern Michigan, goes off to war, is wounded, recuperates, and becomes a writer.



We launched the program in July 2007. It will run for a full year. With only four months behind us, the response by the media and cultural organizations has been incredible. We've been interviewed numerous times by radio, television, and newspaper reporters. We have more than 160 organizations, such as libraries, museums, schools, and others participating in the program. Twenty-nine communities are showcasing a traveling exhibit titled, "Up North with the Hemingways." Hundreds of programs are being planned throughout Michigan.

I recently attended a planning session at the Hoyt Public Library in Saginaw. More than 30 people from three communities attended the meeting to discuss their plans for the coming year. Their collaborative efforts use Hemingway and The Nick Adams Stories as the impetus for dialogue, performance, food, trout fishing, school programming, interpretation, writing, film festival, and a lecture series. This is an excellent example of Bay City, Midland, and Saginaw communities working together, sharing ideas, and presenting quality programs as they embrace reading literature. We anticipate many more such programs and collaborative efforts.

If you were to ask me what I think is attributing to The Great Michigan Read’s success, I would have to say it is its broad appeal, along with the resources and the programs planned around reading The Nick Adams Stories. People continue to have an interest in Hemingway's works, his journalistic approach to writing, and his coming-of-age in Michigan.

Also, providing the necessary "accessories" is critical to making this a signature program. Our organization provides a reader’s guide, bookmarks, posters, a web site, podcasts and media support, grant opportunities, a touring exhibit with a brochure that discusses the Hemingways' experiences in Northern Michigan, a publication that identifies Hemingway's haunts for those inclined to walk in his footsteps, a documentary, a speakers' bureau, leadership and more.

This program's success also is related to a dedication to outreach by Michigan cultural organizations. We all want to make outstanding programs available in all corners of the state. From a film festival, to an essay contest, to a lecture, to so much more, the partners in this project have reintroduced Michigan citizens to a literary masterpiece made in Michigan.

“Of the place where he had been a boy he had written well enough. As well as he could then.” The place was Michigan, where Hemingway remembered himself as Nick Adams.

Governor's Humanities Awards - Nominations Deadline Coming

January 25 is the last day for sending in nominations for the 2008 Governor's Humanities Awards. Think about the people who are shaping your community and telling its story. Who stands out in your mind? Is it a teacher in your local school who is creating interest by breathing new life into history and literature? Is it a volunteer at the historical society whose dedication to preserving your community’s heritage deserves to be recognized? Is it an author who is making the community story wider by bringing in new voices or stories?

If so, I hope you will consider the criteria for nominating such a person for the 2008 Governor's Humanities Awards. The Humanities Awards recognize exemplary teachers of English, History, or Languages; individuals who have done exemplary work to help communities understand their heritage; and authors of books related to the human experience in Missouri.

Please see our web site for the guidelines.

New Harmonies

We're still accepting applications through December to host the touring Smithsonian exhibit on American Roots Music in 2009. These exhibits are a perennial feature of MHC programming because they help local people generate a huge amount of interest in a historical theme. In fact, the attendance figure for these touring exhibits always exceeds the local population.

On Family Reading: Why Does the Cat Look Guilty?

By Julie Douglas, Family Program Specialist

Insight can be found in the most unusual places. The other day I was manning a registration booth for a READ from the START program in a Head Start center. A handsome young man sauntered up and looked at the display of books spread out on my table. After a moment of serious consideration, he picked up a book, dragged a chair up next to me and announced, "You need to read this to me." With the confidence that only a four-year-old seems to possess, he settled into his chair and fixed his big brown eyes on the book cover.

Well, what could I do?

We dug into the story. We giggled at a potato-headed character together and tried to guess what might be hiding under each flap in the pop-up book. We had a very serious discussion about why the cat was always looking so guilty in each picture. The world around us fell away and we were discussing, well…literature. This was no great work of fiction, no Caldecott winner. It was Bob the Builder, if you must know. Poor Bob had misplaced his hammer and it was going to take my friend and me eight board book pages to help him find it. If someone had asked my opinion of this book before my little friend and I had explored it, I probably would have sniffed and snootily labeled it: So-so. Bright pictures and indestructible. It would do in a pinch if you were looking for something quick to read to a child.

This is where insight came in. I believe that what my new friend meant when he declared, "You need to read this to me" was that I was in need of what Oprah refers to as an "Ah-ha moment." (I don't believe in coincidences, you know. There was absolutely a reason this little guy and I crossed paths that day.)

I thought about our encounter the rest of the day and smiled each time I recalled our laughter and genuine joy as we shared a book. I marveled at this young child's logic about where Bob might have lost his hammer. And, SPOILER ALERT… by the time we had finally found Bob's hammer in his lunch box, I felt like I had made a new friend.

Ah-ha! He was right. I did need to read that book TO him. My "ah-ha" revelation, if you'll pardon my pun, hit me over the head like a hammer. What occurred to me was this; a book is tool. Some tools are beautiful and finely crafted, ergonomically designed and stylish. But sometimes, you just need a hammer. Any hammer. Yep, even that rusty one on the tool bench will do. Books are like that. Sometimes the real power of a book is not only in the carefully chosen words or the fanciful illustrations. Sometimes the real beauty of a book is in the sharing. When my four-year old pal and I shared the book, we cobbled together an experience that was rich with language and laughter.

This month, instead of recommending a list of books, here is a list of tips for sharing a book (any book!) with children.

1. Approach a book as if it is a big adventure (It is!! Who knows where it will take you?) Run your hand over the cover and ponder, "What could this be about?" Even the way you handle a book communicates a great deal to a child about how you feel about reading.

2. Read the title. Help the child understand that a title is really a clue. It gives the reader a hint about what is coming. Ask the child what she thinks the book might be about just by looking at the cover and title.

3. Read the author/illustrator's names. Remind the child that REAL people worked very hard to create this book. Does your child know this author through other books?

4. Read the dedication page. The author and illustrator often dedicate the book to someone. Again, this helps the child understand that the creators of this book are real people, just like him.

5. Now the adventure begins. Because, in all likelihood, you are not going to read this book just once, you can use several approaches to reading. Let the child be your guide here. Sometimes a child enjoys just listening to the story, soaking it all in. But more often, the child wants to be a part of the reading process. Take time to talk about the illustrations. They often tell a story. Ask the child what she sees on the page and what the characters are doing. Predict what might happen next in the story.

6. Don't be afraid to ham it up! Try out some character voices. Make sound effects. Change the inflection of your voice to create a mood. Your job as reader is to bring the words on the page to life.

7. Reading does not have to be a sedentary activity. Look for action words in the story and move. For example, in the book MOUSE COUNT, the little mice escape by rocking a jar "this way and that way." It's fun to rock side to side while reading this part.

8. Why did that happen? How did he do that? What will happen next? Try to answer your child's question with a question. Instead of giving an answer, give her an opportunity to think and express her thoughts.

9. Share books that you love with your child. Your enthusiasm will be contagious.

10. Read books that your child loves. Over and over. And over. Hearing a story many times is an important step in a child’s journey towards comprehension and listening skills. Find ways to keep it fresh when reading a book for the 10th or 100th time.

Happy reading!

Audubon Chautauqua in Rolla

Brian "Fox" Ellis, a renowned Chautauqua performer from Illinois, will present a "must-see" program as John James Audubon in Rolla on December 10 at 7:00 p.m. The program is sponsored under an MHC grant by the Ozark Rivers Chapter of the National Audubon Society. It's at the Ozark Actors Theatre, 701 North Cedar. For more information, contact Constance Roberts, (573) 426-5616.

A Christmas Carol in St. Louis

The remarkable Etc. Senior Theatre Company is adapting Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol for six presentations in The Robert Campbell House Museum on December 7-8-9. We've heard raves about this group's work and we're happy to be able to support this production with grant funding.

Talk Show

Executive Director Michael Bouman's November 20th blog, "Talk Show,"

is about the magic show that is the prose of the novelist, Roberto Bolaño. His book, The Savage Detectives, is one of those titles you can come back to and enjoy over and over again.