City gets literary with the county public library's 'On the Same Page' program

By Chris Chase
Contributing Reviewer

If you haven't read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, you've probably at least skimmed the Cliff's Notes or seen the Oscar-winning movie starring Gregory Peck. Now the Forsyth County Public Library is bringing the 1930s classic, which ranks among the likes of Gone with the Wind and Forrest Gump as a pillar of 20th century Southern literature, back to life for a contemporary audience.

In an effort to spark interest in reading and to provide the local community with an outlet to voice social concerns, the library is sponsoring a two month-long celebration of the novel, which details the events in the life of Scout, a young girl who confronts issues of racism, poverty and community bonds in Depression-era Alabama.

The "On the Same Page" program began in late August and was designed to bring discussions about famous novels into homes, book clubs and places of business. The organizers of the event hope that by encouraging conversation about books, reading will become more prevalent in the lives of Winston-Salem community members.

"Our goal is to broaden appreciation of literature community-wide," said Anna McCloud, co-chair of the program

In addition to discussion groups about To Kill a Mockingbird, organizers have planned numerous events dealing with the broader issues brought up in Lee's novel. There have been forums on race relations led by professor Ray Winbush of Morgan State University and future plans call for a night of training in racial tolerance. Other events have included an open-mic poetry night for teens as well as a block party downtown.

One of the events organizers were most excited about was a poetry reading by acclaimed poets Gary Soto and Barabara Tran Aug. 28. The poetry reading, which capped a day of events in late August, was a success, though To Kill a Mockingbird was not the main topic.

"It was a great event ­ you've never heard so much laughter outside of a comedy club," said Dean Franco, an assistant professor of English. "Soto has such a wellspring of good humor and self-directed irony that he's able to create a lot of room for his more challenging

iconoclasm and radical political views."

Even though Soto and Tran's reading was not directly linked to the novel, organizers were still pleased.

"We want these events to provide a springboard for conversations that need to take place," said Ben Morgan of the Forsyth County Public Library.

Even though events take on different topics, the goal still remains to interest people in reading. Organizers had a difficult time choosing a book that would be relevant, but would still spark conversation about a social issue.

After much debate about book selection, the directors of "On the Same Page" originally decided on Ernest Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying, a recently published novel about an African-American man on death row. Gaines' book, however, was not readily available for publication in Spanish, one of the main criteria organizers were looking for. McCloud says the organizers wanted a book that would not exclude any group of people.

The group eventually chose Lee's prize-winning novel about a long summer of racial intolerance in the Deep South. While the subject matter of To Kill a Mockingbird was not the main reason the novel was chosen, the fact that it deals with race relations was intriguing to the directors.

"[We wanted] to get people to talk about things that are difficult to," McCloud said.

There are still more events planned, with a discussion and reading by noted Hispanic writer Jerry Tello highlighting the schedule, at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Arts Council Theatre. The "On the Same Page" program will culminate on Oct. 22 with a screening of the 1962 black and white film version of the novel starring Gregory Peck, at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Stevens Center for the Performing Arts.

For more information, check www.co.forsyth.nc.us/library/book/index.html.