NEA Big Read 2020
Join us as we celebrate Advice from the Lights by Stephanie Burt, the Festival’s choice as “The Big Read” for 2020, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
The poetry collection Advice from the Lights (Graywolf Press, 2017) is a candid exploration of gender and identity that asks: How do any of us achieve adulthood? In her critically acclaimed collection, Burt engages with the transition from innocence to experience, contemporary politics, and parenthood. Her poems are fraught with fantastical sequences in which objects speak and animals grapple with their identities. This essential work asks who we are, how we become ourselves, and why we make art.
Stephanie Burt is a poet, literary critic, and professor. In 2012, the New York Times called Burt “one of the most influential poetry critics of [her] generation.” Burt has published books of criticism and four collections of poems. Her book Close Calls with Nonsense: Reading New Poetry (2009), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Burt is a Professor of English at Harvard University.
Arts & Ideas partners with NEA Big Read to host a series of virtual events focused on a single book as a point of departure for conversations throughout New Haven. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
Want to purchase your own copy of "Advice from the Lights"? We encourage you to support our local independent booksellers
- People Get Ready: https://peoplegetreadybooks.indielite.org
- Atticus (taking book orders by phone): http://www.atticusbookstorecafe.com
- Books & Company (Hamden): https://www.booksandcohamden.com
- RJ Julia (Madison): https://www.rjjulia.com/
As part of the 2020 Festival, Arts & Ideas will partner with the New Haven community to create free events highlighting the book's themes; past events have included book club discussions, panel discussions, lectures, exhibitions, and poetry readings. If your organization would like take part in the 2020 Big Read, please Submit an Event Here.
All programming is presented free of charge. Live-streamed content will be available on Facebook, You Tube and here on our homepage. Additionally, All Facebook Live events are also live captioned!
Workshop content will require Zoom registration; info and links will be posted below as available.
Resources
Below are some of the incredible local and national resources for transgender and gender diverse individuals. These resources were provided by the New Haven Pride Center, the leading LGBTQ+ organization in Connecticut.
- TransLife Line (24 hotline for trans and gender diverse individuals): US 877-565-8860 / Canada 877-330-6366
- Anchor Health Initiative: a leading provider of trans healthcare in Connecticut
- New Haven Pride Center: LGBTQ+ case management, support services, and social programming
Downloadable Resource Guides from the Yale Gender Center
- Information for Families_Allies Packet .pdf
- Gender Identity Books for Adults - Welcoming Schools.pdf
- Gender Identity Elementary Students Books 2014.pdf
- annotated_bibliography.teens_.pdf
- Annotated Booklist Children_s.pdf
- FAP_English Booklet_pst.pdf
- Trans Student Guide to Applying for Financial Aid.pdf
Sponsors/Partners
Spanish Translation of Julian is a Mermaid
presented by the New Haven Free Public Library
NHFPL Staff read aloud the Spanish translation of this story-time based on Julian is a Mermaid written and illustrated by Jessica Love
What Makes a Family
presented by the New Haven Free Public Library
NHFPL Staff read aloud story time based on Eustace and Clyde written and illustrated by Marina Aizen.
Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman
presented by the New Haven Free Public Library
NHFPL Staff read aloud this heart warming story that speaks to the unique challenges faced by boys who do not identify with traditional gender roles
YA Book Bash! featuring LGBTQ+ Books
A Book Club for Young Adult Book Lovers presented by the New Haven Free Public Library
Check out Advice from the Lights by Stephan/Stephanie Burt in the NHFPL Overdrive collection. This book of poetry is a memoir of the author's experience with (mis)identity and longing to live her life as a woman.This book club meeting will include discussion questions based on reading ANY LGBTQ+ book and issues of identity and acceptance.
Virtual Art Gallery - Advice from the Lights : An Artistic Response to the Poetry of Stephanie Burt
co-presented by The New Haven Pride Center & Nasty Women Connecticut
The New Haven Pride Center has partnered with Nasty Women Connecticut to produce our next exhibition titled "Advice from the Lights : An Artistic Response to the Poetry of Stephanie Burt." This exhibition will feature the works of 10-15 transgender artists from Connecticut creating visual art in response to the poems in the book.
De-Centering Gender and the Politics of Trans Allyship
Nasty Women Connecticut is sitting in conversation with phenomenal local artists and educators to unpack what it means to decenter gender in a very binary world, and what does Trans ally-ship look and feel like, asking the questions “How do we De-Center Gender?”, “Do we need to de-center gender?”, “How does intersectionality play a role?”
Stephanie Burt in Conversation
Part of the NEA Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest
Poet Stephanie Burt discusses her book Advice From The Lights (Graywolf Press, 2017), an essential work that asks who we are, how we become ourselves, and why we make art.
Right to Play: Standing Up for Trans Athletes
The New Haven Pride Center
A conversation exploring the experiences of transgender athletes in recreational and professional sports.
Identity, Power and Hope: A Reflection on Advice from the Lights
With the Yale New Haven Hospital Pediatric Gender Program
Join members and affiliates of the Yale Pediatric Gender Program to discuss identity development and how to engender hope in youth in our current sociopolitical climate.
Qweird Words Writing Workshop
co-presented by The New Haven Pride Center & The Word
Writing workshops centered on trans and LGBTQIA+ youth, and open to all youth ages 13-24. Create poetry, spoken word and rap inspired by Advice from the Lights, co-facilitated by teaching artists from Pride Center and The Word, with the chance to perform at the live-streamed showcase May 29.