NEA Names 2026-2027 Big Read Communities: 71 Nonprofits Share $1,089,030
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Arts Midwest, has announced the 2026-2027 NEA Big Read communities: 71 nonprofit organizations nationwide will receive a total of $1,089,030 to support programming centered on a book from the NEA Big Read Library.
This year's Big Read honors 250 years of the American story, celebrating the country's culture, history and resilience through the eyes of its citizens. NEA Chairman Mary Anne Carter said the grantees are not only encouraging community members to pick up a great book, but also engaging them with the past while inviting them to create connections for the future. Arts Midwest President and CEO Torrie Allen said grantees are reminding readers that American stories are still being written, and that every reader has a part in that telling.
Grantees come from 47 states and Puerto Rico and represent rural, suburban and metropolitan communities. Eighty percent are receiving their first NEA Big Read grant this year. Each grantee will receive a matching grant ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 through Arts Midwest to support book discussions, writing workshops and creative activities.
First-time grantee examples include the River Raisin Ragtime Revue in Tecumseh, Michigan, which will program Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom with historian Kathryn Harris, who has portrayed Tubman for more than three decades; the Bismarck State College Foundation in North Dakota, showcasing Native voices through poet Joy Harjo's An American Sunrise; and the University of Virginia, which will highlight its Poe holdings alongside a rare printing of the Declaration of Independence.
Since 2006, the NEA has funded more than 1,800 Big Read programs with more than $25 million, reaching every Congressional district in the country, drawing more than 6 million attendees and leveraging more than $57 million in local funding.
(Source: National Endowment for the Arts)
Source: National Endowment for the Arts
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：蒙大拿州 Helena 的 Lewis and Clark 图书馆举办的 NEA 大阅读活动现场，作家 Mary Roach 与主持人台上对谈、座无虚席。该馆将在 2026-2027 年度以《在心海中》开展共读活动。图：国家艺术基金会 NEA 官网。 / Photo: An NEA Big Read event at the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena, Montana, with author Mary Roach speaking on stage to a full house. The library will program In the Heart of the Sea in the 2026-2027 cycle. Image: National Endowment for the Arts (arts.gov).
