The Big Read at Columbia College Chicago begins tonight with our first event, Staged Reading and Discussion of The Maltese Falcon, at Benedictine University, Lisle, IL.

“The Big Read supports organizations across the country in developing community-wide reading programs which encourage reading and participation by diverse audiences.” Columbia College Chicago Library was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant to support this year’s Big Read initiatives.

The Library’s Big Read programming features The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.  The Maltese Falcon (written in 1930) set the standard by which all subsequent detective fiction would be judged. Hammett’s clean prose and sharp ear for dialogue produced an exceedingly readable novel with enough twists to keep the reader turning the pages in search of clues.

Copies of the book will be given away free at the Library and other partner sites throughout the city. Programming continues through Manifest 2016 and includes a Film Noir Festival (Maltese Mondays), a gender-bending femme fatale fashion show, panel discussions, exhibits, and book discussion groups throughout the Chicago area. For a complete list of events, visit http://library.colum.edu/bigread.html.