NEA Names 15 Books for 2022 Big Read Program

Oct 13, 2021

The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read initiative has announced 15 titles for its 2022–2023 programming. A partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read supports community reading programs held around the country, each designed around a single NEA Big Read book selection. Click here for complete grant guidelines and to apply. The deadline for applications is January 26, 2022. There are 12 new additions to the NEA Big Read library this year and three returning titles. Click here for more information about the books, which are as follows:

The new additions for the 2022–2023 NEA Big Read are as follows:

The Bear (novel) by Andrew Krivak
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (poetry) by Ross Gay
The Cold Millions (novel) by Jess Walter
Deaf Republic (poetry) by Ilya Kaminsky
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth (memoir) by Sarah Smarsh
Homegoing (novel) by Yaa Gyasi
Interior Chinatown (novel) by Charles Yu
Infinite Country (novel) by Patricia Engel
Nothing to See Here (novel) by Kevin Wilson
Postcolonial Love Poem (poetry) by Natalie Diaz
Sitting Pretty: The View from my Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body (memoir-in-essays) by Rebekah Taussig
There, There (novel) by Tommy Orange

Returning Books for the 2022–2023 NEA Big Read:

The Best We Could Do (graphic memoir) by Thi Bui
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (graphic memoir) by Roz Chast
Circe (novel) by Madeline Miller

Two webinars for potential applicants will take place this fall: How to Apply for the NEA Big Read and All About the NEA Big Read Books. Click on the links to register.