READING

‘Big D Reads' Launches New Community Reading Event in Dallas

NBCUniversal, Inc.

Big D Reads is unveiling its 2022 read on Thursday, September 1 with a community event.

The event is a community-wide reading program. Think of it like a community book club that was created in 2013.

Each year, the Big D Reads program partners distribute a single title and hold roundtable discussions and panels to discuss the book. Those books are donated to schools, book clubs, libraries, hospitals, young professional and leadership organizations, nonprofits and other locations throughout the city.

The 2022 selection is, The Accommodation, by Jim Schutze, recently reissued by Deep Vellum Books and Publisher. It tells the story of mid-century Dallas, centered on the civic response to the bombing of Black people’s homes and the housing crisis that traces back to the Civil War and Jim Crow.

“It’s just like a book club,” Will Evans of Deep Vellum Books and Publisher said. “Everyone has a voice and everyone has the chance to host their own event to kind of have a discussion and interpretation. We should all be able to take that productive conversation where we want and really get serious about the history of this city.”

Big D Reads says the objective in distributing the recently reissued copy, with a new forward written by John Wiley Price, is to help with the understanding of Dallas’ history.

“We’re really hoping that while we help tell this story, we help to unite all communities around Dallas,” Evans said.

30,000 copies of the book will be distributed, for free, throughout Dallas thanks to the volunteer-led community push presented by Amazon in partnership with several North Texas businesses and partners.

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