Great news! We just received word from the Michigan Humanities Council that we have received full funding for the grant we submitted for the Great Michigan Read! What’s the Great Michigan Read? We’re so glad you asked! It’s this really cool program in which the whole state is encouraged to read a Michigan-centric book. This year’s choice: The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway. Do we like Hemingway? And how!
What are we doing? Let’s let the grant speak for itself: The first project, titled “Hemingway: A Life in Literature in Michigan,” taught by Ryan Howard, will begin with a three-week workshop highlighting three key stories in the collection and culminating in a short publication of student writing inspired by Hemingway’s work and this experience. In addition to thorough discussion of the three stories, participating students will also enjoy some of the outdoor activities described in the book — hiking, canoeing, camping — as part of the workshop. The second project, titled “The Adapted Nick Adams,” taught by Anne Heintz, will feature a partnership with Anne-Marie Roberts at Ann Arbor’s Community High School and her theater students. A six-week workshop at the high school will include in-depth analysis of several stories and result in a series of student-written short plays adapted from Hemingway’s original text. Both workshops’ culminating projects, the chapbook and the finished plays, will be featured in May at the Ann Arbor Book Festival.
Even better? The students from the two groups will communicate through blogs. AND there has been some talk floating around about a movie. And that’s all we’ll say for now!