Acclaimed author Andrew Krivak to conclude Eastern's Big Read program on April 8
Krivak to explore humanity's legacy and other themes of the 'The Bear'
Willimantic, CT (03/12/2025) — Eastern Connecticut State University's 2024-25 Big Read program will conclude on April 8 with a special keynote event featuring Andrew Krivak, acclaimed author of "The Bear"-the novel at the heart of this year's community-reading initiative. The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Instructional Center Concert Hall and is free and open to the public.
Set in the New England wilderness at the dusk of humanity, "The Bear" is a survivalist tale that explores the delicate balance between harmony and struggle with nature.
"I'm grateful to everyone at Eastern for choosing "The Bear" for its Big Read program," said Krivak, a National Book Award finalist. "I had no idea when I was writing "The Bear" that its mythic world would resonate so strongly, but I think the truth is, we all wonder what kind of story we're currently writing about humanity's stewardship of the planet, and if it's a story we'll be proud to tell decades, even centuries, from now? I'm excited to visit Eastern on April 8 to explore these questions and more."
Eastern is the only Connecticut organization to receive a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the 2024-25 cycle. In alignment with this year's theme, "Where We Live," the university collaborated with regional organizations to spark community-wide discussions on novel's environmental themes.
Krivak is the author of four novels, two poetry chapbooks, and two works of nonfiction. His debut novel, "The Sojourn" (2011), was a National Book Award finalist and won both the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Chautauqua Prize. He followed with "The Signal Flame" and "The Bear," which received the Banff Mountain Book Prize, the Massachusetts Book Award, and was selected as an NEA Big Read title. His most recent novel, "Like the Appearance of Horses" (2023), was named one of Library Journal's Best Literary Fiction Books of 2023.
This keynote event is made possible by the NEA Big Read and CT Humanities.
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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,000 students annually on its Willimantic campus. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 25 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024-25 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 15 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.
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