• February 9 at 10:00 a.m.- A live theatrical performance of Zora by the American Place Theatre Company at El Camino High School's Truax Theatre, 400 Rancho Del Oro Drive
• February 11 at 10:30 a.m. - "Every Tongue Got to Confess: Voices from the South" A Living History Presentation in the Civic Center Library Community Rooms
• February 12 at 2:00 p.m. - African American Genealogy Program in the Mission Branch Library Community Room
• February 18 at 3:00 p.m.- Special speaking engagement by Lucy Hurston, niece of Zora Neale Hurston and author of Speak, So You Can Speak Again. MiraCosta College Little Theatre, Bldg. 3601

Other special events include a scholarly panel discussion about the words and works of Zora Neale Hurston, a Southern "Hat Stroll", a sculpture exhibition, book discussions, films and more.  All programs are free and open to the public.  Please see the Big Read Brochure for a complete list of special events. 

The accompanying program for children, called The Little Read, will feature programs and storytimes around the book Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree by William Miller. 

Zora Neale Hurston was one of the greatest contributors to African American literature.  Hurston (1891-1960) was a folklorist, anthropologist and author during the Harlem Renaissance, and her fictional and factual accounts of black heritage remain unparalleled.  Of Hurston's four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays and essays, she is best known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which presents Janie Mae Crawford's growth from a voiceless teenage girl into a woman who takes charge of her own destiny.

The National Endowment for the Arts presents The Big Read in cooperation with Arts Midwest.  The Big Read in Oceanside is funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with contributions from the Friends of the Oceanside Public Library and the Oceanside Public Library Foundation, with generous support from many community partners.