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Talk on Miller's 'Circe' kicks off Eastern's Big Read

by Cindy Weiss

Willimantic, CT (10/17/2023) — This year's "Big Read" at Eastern Connecticut State University, featuring Madeline Miller's novel, "Circe," kicks off Oct. 26 with a talk by Vincent Tomasso, associate professor of classical studies at Trinity College.

Tomasso will speak on "Witch, Lover, Child and Mother: Circe from Homer to Miller" at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Center Theatre.

The yearlong "Big Read" is part of a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) program encouraging community engagement in the arts. Eastern is one of 62 recipients of an NEA Big Read grant for 2023.

Based on Greek mythology, Miller's "Circe" reimagines Homer's "Odyssey" from a female perspective, exploring what it means to be a woman in a world dominated by men. It is the story of a woman cast out from her family who finds herself learning witchcraft.

Other events in this year's Big Read will include an art exhibition, a series of discussions, and a keynote virtual event in April featuring the author. All events are open to the public.

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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. In addition to attracting students from 160 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 30 states and eight countries. 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 20 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022-23 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 13 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.

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