(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- The Jersey City Arts Council’s Literary Arts Committee is actively raising funds to provide free copies of Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel to 100% of Jersey City’s high school and college students so they can participate in the 2019 NEA Big Read. Fundraising ends November 27, 2018.
Jersey City has selected to read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel this coming March for the NEA Big Read. Mandel is the author of four novels, an Arthur C. Clarke award winner and a National Book Award Finalist. Her post-apocalyptic novel Station Eleven is a New York Times and international bestseller. The NEA Big Read will be celebrated as a month-long, citywide event, with more than three dozen programs, including literary readings, special workshops, slams, short films, art shows, and youth activities—all culminating in a visit from the writer Emily St. John Mandel on April 3.
The Arts Council’s campaign asks residents to donate just $5 to help ensure that every Jersey City high school and college student can participate in the NEA Big Read. The Literary Arts Committee has partnered with publisher Penguin Random House to print and deliver up to 25,000 copies of the book at cost, a savings of more than $250,000 from the cover price. Each $5 donation from the public will put a free copy of Station Eleven into the hands of a Jersey City student. The most generous donor will be thanked, with a logo if appropriate, on the back cover of all 25,000 books.
“The NEA Big Read is going to be filled with fun and thought-provoking events, all sparked by this wonderful novel,” said Robinson Holloway, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Arts Council. “We want everyone in Jersey City to participate, and we know that for many students the purchase of an un-assigned book can be a luxury. Penguin Random House has been an extraordinary partner, and we can’t wait for 25,000 conversations to start.”
Fundraising ends November 27, 2018, to allow time to print and distribute the books for the start of the NEA Big Read festivities in March 2019.
HOW TO DONATE: Donations of $5 (or more) can be made with a credit card online or a check made out to Jersey City Arts Council can be mailed to JCAC, 331 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07302.
The Jersey City Arts Council is registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. The NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
