Community-wide reading event to begin at the end of February

Category: Non-Local News Releases Non-Local News Releases
Published: 13 February 2018 13 February 2018

luis alberto urrea rsAuthor Luis Alberto Urrea will be New Mexico State University's spring keynote speaker, giving an address at the ASNMSU Center For the Arts. The talk will be at 7:30 p.m. March 13 and it is open to the public without charge. Following the public lecture, there will be book sales and book signing in the lobby of the Center for the Arts.
(Photo by Nicole Waite Photography)WRITER: Melissa R. Rutter, 575-646-4211, mrrutter@nmsu.edu

The Big Read Project is launching this month in Las Cruces. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Las Cruces, the Associated Students of New Mexico State University and the NMSU Office of the Provost, The Big Read Project seeks to promote community-wide activities surrounding a chosen book.

into the beautiful north cover cw rs"Into the Beautiful North" by author Luis Alberto Urrea is set in the present day in the highly charged world of the U.S.-Mexico border region.
(Photo courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts)The NMSU Big Read committee chose "Into the Beautiful North" by Luis Urrea. The book is about a young woman and her friends in a small town in Mexico who watch "The Magnificent Seven" and are inspired to recruit seven good men to save their community from the drug cartels. Led by the plucky protagonist Nayeli, they travel to the U.S. and along the way encounter both good and bad actors on both sides of the border.

"NEA has about 25 books or so to choose from for the Big Read Program, and about a year and a half ago a panel of faculty and staff looked at all those titles. We did quick reads of several of the books and tried to figure out which one would be the best fit for us, and since this book deals with the borderland region and the issue of immigration and cross-border relationships it seemed like an appropriate fit for our area," Miriam Chaiken, dean of NMSU's Honors College said. "I read the book myself and thought it was charming. It painted a really human picture of people – I mean nobody was all bad and nobody was all good. They were very complex, real characters."

The kickoff event will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Las Cruces Plaza and will include performances by ballet folklorico companies and mariachi bands. Copies of the "Into the Beautiful North" will also be distributed. The events will continue that night with a screening of the American western classic "Magnificent Seven" at 7 p.m. at the Rio Grande Theatre in downtown Las Cruces. The iconic film gave rise to some of the plot twists in Urrea's novel.

On March 1, NMSU professor and attorney Nancy Oretskin will moderate a panel discussion about the political and legal issues surrounding immigration. Oretskin has represented many individuals detained for crossing the border without documentation, and/or asylum seekers, and has extensive experience with the legal system, the immigration courts and the federal agencies charged with border security. The panel discussion will be held at Branigan Cultural Center in downtown Las Cruces at 4 p.m.

Following that on March 9, "Seven Samurai" will be screened at the Rio Grande Theatre at 7 p.m. "Magnificent Seven" is a remake of the famous Japanese movie. Prior to the showing a film historian will give a talk about the importance of the film in cinematic history.

Urrea will visit Las Cruces on March 13, where he will be NMSU's spring keynote speaker. The talk will be at 7:30 p.m. in the ASNMSU Center for the Arts. Following the lecture, there will be book sales and a book signing in the lobby. All of the Big Read events are free and open to the public.

Concluding the events will be the 14th annual J. Paul Taylor Social Justice Symposium at the Mark and Stephanie Medoff Theatre in the ASNMSU Center for the Arts on March 15. The annual event will be organized around the theme "Indivisible Justice – Beyond Walls & Borders." The event will continue the discussion from previous events including the panel discussion.

For more information on any of the events contact Chaiken at 575-646-2005 or visit https://honors.nmsu.edu/the-big-read-comes-to-las-cruces/

Also follow Big Read events at Honor's College Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nmsu.honors.college/

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.