Category: Q&A

NH Humanities picks a Big Read book

New Hampshire Humanities has been awarded a Big Read grant, joining 62 organizations nationwide. In collaboration with various partners, including local libraries and community organizations, NHH will engage readers all over the state in a shared reading experience of The Bear by New Hampshire author Andrew Krivak. Mary Nolin, the program manager, talked about Big Read and shared insights on the grant application, the book selection process and the diverse range of events and activities planned for the community.

What is the Big Read program, and how did New Hampshire get a grant for it?

The Big Read is a program initiated by the National Endowment for the Arts … to foster community engagement through literature. … I personally applied for and managed the grant on behalf of New Hampshire Humanities. Although the entire staff assisted me, I took the lead in writing the application, researching the book, coordinating with our partners and planning associated events.

What motivated New Hampshire Humanities and yourself to get involved in this program?

As the manager of literacy and literature-based initiatives at New Hampshire Humanities, I’ve seen the power literature has to bring people together. Regardless of their backgrounds or political beliefs, when people walk into a book session they all have something in common, which is that book. I love that literature can unite us in that way, especially in a time when we are often divided on many things, so that’s why I applied for the grant.

Tell us about the chosen book, The Bear.

The Bear is a story about the last two people on Earth, a father and a daughter. Though it takes place in the future, it takes us back to a simpler time when people were living in harmony with nature. The father teaches the daughter many things for survival and knowledge that she’s going to need for a future when she’s ultimately on her own. The book has powerful themes about what is the responsibility of older generations to pass on knowledge to younger generations.

Why was this book chosen?

The National Endowment for the Arts provides a list of 15 books that we can choose from. Starting in October of last year, I began narrowing down the options. I read several of the books, and I presented them to our staff and partners. It made the most sense to choose The Bear by Andrew Krivak. The author has a home in Jaffrey, so we were happy to be able to lift up a local New Hampshire author, and the [setting of the] story is based on the area near his home, which is in the shadow of Mount Monadnock. It felt like a book that resonated well with our state. Additionally, we are currently running an initiative called “Becoming New Hampshire,” which explores how stories from the past can help us navigate the present and future. The Bear, which looks at what our future could possibly look like, seemed like a natural fit.

What events and activities are planned for people to engage with the book?

We have partnered with 50 libraries across the state; it was important to us that people in every county have opportunities for participation. The libraries are really the backbone of the project. Each library will host a book discussion and at least one free community program. … New Hampshire Humanities provides copies of the book to these libraries and offers trained facilitators to lead the discussions. … The community events organized by the libraries are diverse, ranging from guided nature walks and photography classes to community painting and hands-on demonstrations with indigenous tools. … We’re kicking off with a public event on Sept. 6 at Great North Aleworks where two actors will perform a scene from the book, and the brewery will unveil its new imperial Black Bear stout. … New Hampshire Humanities is hosting two online lectures on the book’s themes. … We have a poet, Mitch Goldberg, discussing the connection between poets and the night sky in The Bear. We’re also hosting a free planetarium show at the Christa McAuliffe Discovery Center mimicking how the girl in the book experiences the night sky. … On Oct. 14, the author Andrew Krivak will have a public question-and-answer session in Concord.

NH Historical Society holds scavenger hunt

Discover New Hampshire’s hidden treasures, stories and landmarks during the New Hampshire Historical Society’s 603 History Hunt. Elizabeth Dubrulle, Director of Education and Public Programs, talked about the inspiration, challenges and prizes of this unique statewide scavenger hunt, which begins on July 1.

What inspired the 603 History Hunt?

When we were brainstorming ideas for our 200th anniversary, we planned an extra-special year across the board. We wanted to do a lot of things focused on our regular audience and our members, but we also wanted to do something more broad, for the general public and people who don’t normally visit us or come to our programs. We came up with this idea. We thought it would be a fun, lighthearted way to get people out and about in the summer to explore and appreciate New Hampshire … and to find out great things about New Hampshire that they probably didn’t know before.

What are some of the challenges that participants can expect to do during the hunt?

There are tons of different kinds of challenges. Most are pretty accessible to everyone, but we made a few of them pretty hard to [cater to] the whole range of experience people [have] with New Hampshire. There’ll be things like visiting the longest candy counter in the world … and visiting historic markers, statues and interesting tourist attractions … like the original engine on the cog railroad. There’s finding grave sites for famous people, like the author Willa Cather and Franklin Pierce. There’s visiting things like the Walldog murals in Keene and other kinds of hidden gems, like the Mercy Train in Manchester.

What experiences are you aiming for participants to have through these challenges?

We’re trying to get people to recognize how extraordinary New Hampshire is, and to just get a look at the world around them. … New Hampshire has had a really outsized impact on American history. A lot of famous people have come here or were born here. Things have been invented here. There have been a lot of firsts here. … We’re all so busy and doing so many things so many times. Sometimes we forget that we live in this great state with all these wonderful things to see.

How does the scoring system work?

It’s all run through a free app called Scavify. You download the app onto your phone and join the 603 History Hunt. On July 1, the challenges will be uploaded. As you complete each challenge, you either upload a photo or scan a QR code, whatever the challenge requires, and get points. The app automatically keeps track of your points. You can check the leaderboard at any time and see how you’re doing compared to other people. Each person plays as an individual; there’s no team function, but we encourage people to play as a family and go out and do it together. Everybody can have their own account, or you can have one account for your whole family.

What are the prizes?

We have some participation prizes, like if you complete five challenges you get a 603 History Hunt mug. If you complete 25 challenges, you get a 603 History Hunt baseball hat. Those can be picked up here at the New Hampshire Historical Society. We’re also having a free ice cream social on Aug. 5 for all the participants where people can pick up their participation prizes. There are also five competitive prizes. We’re still [confirming] some of the prizes … but the ones we have locked in are two passports for the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail, which gets you free admission into more than 20 museums around the state; … two tickets for the cog railroad; … and two tickets for Canobie Lake Park. We thought we’d keep in the spirit of things and give prizes that get people out and doing things. All of the competitive prizes also come with a free one-year membership for the New Hampshire Historical Society, which gets you free admission to the museum, archives and library, discounted admission to our workshops and special tours and free admission to all of our Saturday programs … which are lectures and collection highlight talks and stuff like that.

Featured photo: Caleb Smith. Courtesy photo.