LAKEPORT >> In Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven, the motto of the Traveling Symphony is “Because Survival is Insufficient.” The actors and musicians in the troupe know that there is more to life than mere physical survival after a disaster disrupts civilization. They know that the arts are part of what makes us human. We use the arts to record and share our common humanity. Weaving through the book are themes and images from Shakespeare, music, art and writing.
With beautiful, insightful prose Station Eleven examines the purpose of art, the meaning of survival, and what it means to remember and be remembered. Station Eleven has won many awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Toronto Book Award. The novel was also a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award.
A program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
During October the Lake County Library Big Read will present programs that celebrate the arts as part of the month-long book-reading and discussion event. Events will include drama and music performances, graphic novel design and a film presentation.
Free copies of the book will be available at all four Lake County Library branches and at Big Read events in October while supplies last. Free versions of Station Eleven are available for download on the library’s online catalog as well as print and audio copies. Learn more about the book selection and planned events, and sign up for the Big Read email updates on the website www.lakecountybigread.com.
The Lake County Arts Council will hold two free Big Read Events at the Arts Council Gallery at 325 N. Main St. in Lakeport. The phone number is 263-6658.
The Lake County Arts Council’s Poets & Writers group will explore Station Eleven’s beautiful poetic prose on Oct. 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. O’Meara Brothers Brewery has created a special beer called “Station Eleven” that will be served at this event. The public is invited to this free event.
The Soper Reese Theatre at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport will host “Traveling Symphony: Shakespeare from Station Eleven”, a free afternoon of music and Shakespeare on Oct. 21 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Members of the Lake County Symphony will perform musical selections and the Shakespeare in the Park troupe will perform a Shakespeare piece.
On Oct. 25 from 5:00 to 6:30 Lakeport Library will screen “Survival Instinct”, the episode of Star Trek Voyager that inspired Emily St. John Mandel to create Station Eleven. In Station Eleven the motto of the traveling Shakespeare troupe is “Because Survival is Insufficient” a quote from this episode of Star Trek Voyager. Come watch Star Trek Voyager for free at the library and explore what it means for survival to be “insufficient.”
Join Susan Krones and county librarian Christopher Veach Oct. 28 at 4:00 p.m. for an on-air discussion of Station Eleven in a special Big Read edition of “Book Ends” on KPFZ Community Radio 88.1 FM.
