The Big Read Kickoff Event, Wed, 4/3 @7pm

The Big Read Kickoff - Columbia College Chicago Library
Wed, April 3, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash Ave, 8th floor

Dr. Carmelo Esterrich

Join us as we kickoff The Big Read programming for 2013!  Dr. Carmelo Esterrich, Associate Professor of Spanish, Humanities and Cultural Studies will discuss the  importance of Julia Alvarez' novel  In the Time of the Butterflies and how it brought the lives of Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal to light.  He will  provide a historical background of the Dominican Republic, and the Mirabal sisters' importance within the political context of the mid-twentieth century when the country was under the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.


The presentation will be followed by a brief reading from playwright Caridad Svich's play adaptation of In the Time of the Butterflies, by Teatro Luna (Chicago's All Latina Theater Company) and a dance performance by members of the Latino Alliance student dance group, Adrenaline.

Refreshments will be served after the program.  This program is free and open to the public.

Copies of the book will be available as supplies last.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.  This program is also made in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois General Assembly.