The Kick-Off of Santa Cruz Reads Big Read program focusing on The Grapes of Wrath and the life of John Steinbeck will feature a proclamation by the mayor, music, performances by Willing Suspension Armchair Theater and Loose Cannon Improv, and a keynote address by Susan Shillinglaw. Munch and mingle will begin at 5:30 including music in the Atrium.
Event Location: The Museum of Art & History, 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
Participants will turn their attention to a less discussed theme in The Grapes of Wrath, the fundamental need for humanity to return to nature amidst the industrialization of society, by looking at key passages from the novel. Discussion will be led by Veronica Zaleha.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
Participants of he Santa Cruz Downtown Toastmasters Club will explore in table groups, several topics surrounding The Grapes of Wrath, report out to the larger group, read aloud and discuss selected passages from the text, and listen to what Steinbeck contemporaries had to say about his work. Discussion will be led by Carole McPherson.
Event Location: De Laveaga Golf Course, 401 Upper Park Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95065
Join Santa Cruz Reads in the Santa Cruz City Council Chambers at Santa Cruz City Hall, 809 Center Street on Friday, March 1, for the announcement of the winners and runners-up of The Grapes of Wrath writing contests. Winners and runners-up will read their entries from 5:00 to 6:30 pm.
Event Location: Santa Cruz City Council Chambers, Santa Cruz City Hall, 809 Center Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
View and discuss former CBS News correspondent Edward R. Murrow's 1960 Special Report, Harvest of Shame, concerned with migrant workers in sweat shop working conditions, and compare with issues of migrant farm workers today. Facilitated by former Santa Cruz City Councilman, Mike Rotkin, with personal commentary by State Senator Bill Monning, both will share how Steinbeck's book influenced the course of his life and social advocacy surrounding career choices and priorities.
Event Location: The Nickelodeon Theater, 210 Lincoln Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Santa Cruz Reads presents “A Musical Celebration of the Life and Times of John Steinbeck”, on Saturday, March 2, at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, from 8:00 to 10:00 pm. The event will include six acts focusing on the music of the Depression era including Woody Guthrie and others. Renowned dulcimer player and onwer of Gourd Music, Neal Hellman, is producing the event and will perform with friends. Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets at brownpapertickets.com.
Event Location: Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
The National Steinbeck Center and Gourd Music present and encore performance of “A Musical Celebration of the Life and Times of John Steinbeck”, on Sunday, March 3, at the National Steinbeck Center, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. The event will include six acts focusing on the music of the Depression era including Woody Guthrie and others. Renowned dulcimer player and onwer of Gourd Music, Neal Hellman, is producing the event and will perform with friends. Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets at brownpapertickets.com.
Event Location: National Steinbeck Center, 1 Main Street , Salinas, Ca 93901
A discussion for teachers and Steinbeck devotees to examine the question why teach Steinbeck. What is there about Steinbeck’s style and themes that invites the reader into contemplation and discussion about social issues, equity and fairness among individuals. Bring ideas, favorite passages to share, and teachable moments using the text.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Santa Cruz Reads presents a series of films based on the novels of John Steinbeck, to be held at libraries throughout the county. The first film in the series will be The Grapes of Wrath held at the Scotts Valley Library.
Event Location: Scotts Valley Library, 251 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley, CA 95066
The Willing Suspension Armchair Theater will present the first of three performances of "Steinbeck's American Dream", comprised of readings from The Grapes of Wrath and other Steinbeck works, at the Aptos Branch of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries.
Event Location: Scotts Valley Library, 251 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley, CA 95066-4034
Santa Cruz Reads presents Visualizing the Depression, a Depression Era Photo Exhibit featuring the photos of Dorothea Lange and other photographers of the times. The event will be held in the upstairs meeting room of the downtown library. The event will open on Thursday, March 7 from 5:30-8:00 pm and will continue through Saturday from 1:00-4:00 pm. On Thursday evening event coordinators Lance Sprague, Marcia Quackenbush, Julie Minnis, and Janis O'Driscoll will lead a discussion asking participants to think about “what’s outside the frame” of the photos.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
During the 1930′s and 1940′s, government sponsored photographers created a vast collection of Depression imagery. Many of these photographs have attained iconic status, which 80 years later evoke a painful era in America’s history. Santa Cruz Reads invites you to join in a conversation about the visual representation of the era in which The Grapes of Wrath takes place and to explore how we might use these photographs to see today’s conditions more insightfully. Do these photos truly document the Depression? What would be unavailable to us now if they had never been taken? What don’t they reveal? What should we be documenting in 2013 in the midst of current widespread economic disaster? Discussion will be led by Lance Sprague, Marcia Quackenbush, Julie Minnis, and Janis O'Driscoll.
Event Location: Downtown Santa Cruz Library, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Santa Cruz Reads presents Visualizing the Depression, a Depression Era Photo Exhibit featuring the photos of Dorothea Lange and other photographers of the times. The event will be held in the upstairs meeting room of the downtown library. The event will open on Thursday, March 7 from 5:30-8:00 pm and will continue through Saturday from 1:00-4:00 pm. On Thursday evening event coordinators Lance Sprague, Marcia Quackenbush, Julie Minnis, and Janis O'Driscoll will lead a discussion asking participants to think about “what’s outside the frame” of the photos.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Santa Cruz Reads presents Visualizing the Depression, a Depression Era Photo Exhibit featuring the photos of Dorothea Lange and other photographers of the times. The event will be held in the upstairs meeting room of the downtown library. The event will open on Thursday, March 7 from 5:30-8:00 pm and will continue through Saturday from 1:00-4:00 pm. On Thursday evening event coordinators Lance Sprague, Marcia Quackenbush, Julie Minnis, and Janis O'Driscoll will lead a discussion asking participants to think about “what’s outside the frame” of the photos.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, Ca 95060
Back in 1988 – 25 years ago this year – Sandy Lydon was honored to receive the third annual Ed Ricketts Memorial Award. As part of the award, he presented a lecture where he used Steinbeck’s Cannery Row story of the beer milkshake as a metaphor for suggesting that the boundary between cultural and natural history was artificial and even dangerous. Now, in a wide ranging and spirited illustrated lecture, Lydon will give an assessment of this issue 25 years later. How're we doing?
Event Location: Cabrillo College, Room 450 Forum, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003
Tracy Perkins and Sandy Brown will compare the Joad family of The Grapes of Wrath with modern farmworker families living in the Central Valley through photographs.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Santa Cruz Reads presents a series of films based on the novels of John Steinbeck, to be held at libraries throughout the county. The second film in the series will be Of Mice and Men held at the Aptos Library.
Event Location: Aptos Library, 7695 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003
The Willing Suspension Armchair Theater will present the second of three performances of "Steinbeck's American Dream", comprised of readings from The Grapes of Wrath and other Steinbeck works, at the Downtown Branch of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries.
Event Location: Downtown Library, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
After its publication in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath was hated in Oklahoma and reviled and banned in many places around the country, including communities in California. Steinbeck was denounced by a congressman from Oklahoma for the demeaning portrayal of Oklahoma residents. What first-hand knowledge of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle did Steinbeck have? How does the novel survive a controversial history? Discussion will be led by Julie Minnis.
Event Location: Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Discussion focuses on themes and character development in The Grapes of Wrath including a discussion of Ma Joad and her impact on the reader. Think about how the new migrants to California during the course of the novel speak for generations of migrants looking for the American Dream. How does Steinbeck turn fact into fiction as he develops characters he meets along the San Joaquin Valley migrant camps. Discussion will be led by Nancy Litvak and Julie Minnis.
Event Location: Aptos Library, 7695 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003
Santa Cruz Reads presents a series of films based on the novels of John Steinbeck, to be held at libraries throughout the county. The third film in the series will be East of Eden held at the Downtown Library.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
The Willing Suspension Armchair Theater will present the third of three performances of "Steinbeck's American Dream", comprised of readings from The Grapes of Wrath and other Steinbeck works, at the Scotts Valley Branch of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries.
Event Location: Aptos Library, 7695 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003
The monthly Munching with Mozart series has collaborated with Santa Cruz Reads to present a lunchtime performance of a work inspired by The Grapes of Wrath and John Steinbeck. Mary Jane Cope will offer a concert of California composers from the Depression era.
Event Location: Downtown Library, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
This monthly Book Discussion Group that meets on the 3rd Thurs of each month will meet to discuss The Grapes of Wrath. This discussion, open to the public, will be led by Sarah Harbison.
Event Location: Downtown Library, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Discussion centers on the written legacy of John Steinbeck and how his belief in the configurations of the landscape imitate human interactions and the complexities of life’s joy, pain, and suffering evidenced in The Grapes of Wrath. Participants will be guided through a media journey of Steinbeck’s valley of the world, highlighting points of interest to Steinbeck from our coastal regions. Discussion will be led by Steinbeck scholar, Susan Shillinglaw.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Combining selected readings with personal anecdotes, actor Michael Oakes brings John Steinbeck to life in a one-person show about this Nobel Prizing winning author from the Salinas Valley.
Event Location: Santa Cruz High School Auditorium, 415 Walnut Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
Loose Cannon Theater improv troupe collaborates with Santa Cruz Reads to present an evening of improvisation os the award-winning troupe interprets The Grapes of Wrathand John Steinbeck.
Event Location: Broadway Playhouse, 526 Broadway, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
Looking at The Grapes of Wrath through the eyes of the historian provides a fresh approach to viewing the text and the Dust Bowl story. Who left the area and who stayed behind? How does history view the economic depression and the environment then and now? Discussion will be led by Daisy Martin and Julie Minnis.
Event Location: Downtown Library Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
The Grapes of Wrath Final Celebration held at The Museum of Art & History will feature music by the Woody Guthrie Dust Bowl Band, a video montage of the month's events, and a final address by Susan Shillinglaw. Munch and mingle will begin at 5:30.
Event Location: The Museum of Art & History, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3810
