Steinbeck's 'Grapes of Wrath' used in New Orleans Big Read, event begins with 'Days of Dust' kickoff Oct. 17

            The Southern Food and Beverage Museum continues its Big Read celebration of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” with a series of events called “Days of Dust.” There will be an opening party at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 17, 2014, at the museum located at 1504 Oretha C. Haley Blvd. in New Orleans.

            The Big Read in New Orleans is presented in partnership with Jefferson Parish Library and New Orleans Public Library and is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to revitalize the role of reading in American culture by exposing citizens to great works of literature and encouraging them to read for pleasure and enrichment. New Orleans is one of 77 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read through June 2015. In honor of “The Grapes of Wrath” there will be events and a food drive benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank. Please bring your nonperishable dry foods and canned goods to each event and venue to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank.

             Starting on Oct. 7, WRBH Reading Radio, 88.3 FM, will broadcast a reading of “The Grapes of Wrath” by Cameron Gamble, weekly on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. and again at 10 p.m.

             At 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at The Irish House, 1432 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, Friends of the New Orleans Public Library and Southern Food and Beverage Museum will discuss “The Grapes of Wrath”:  Beer, and Prohibition in New Orleans. 
            At 6:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at Southern Food and Beverage Museum, the “Days of Dust” kick-off party will feature an Americana string trio band, Todd Day Waits’ Pigpen, playing Depression-era music, as well as a talk by Southern Food and Beverage Museum’s Director Liz Williams about the Depression, food concerns and “The Grapes of Wrath” as experienced in New Orleans. 

            At 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23, the Main Branch of New Orleans Public Library at 219 Loyola Ave. will screen Part One of the Ken Burns documentary, “The Dust Bowl.”

             At 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at French Market of New Orleans there will be “Canning During the Depression.” Liz Williams of Southern Food and Beverage Museum will host a canning demonstration and discuss Depression-era food and farming practices.

            The Louisiana Book Festival Nov. 1 in Baton Rouge Dr. David Beriss, associate professor of department of anthropology at University of New Orleans; Liz Williams, director of Southern Food and Beverage Museum; and Alisa Plant, senior acquisitions editor at LSU Press, will discuss “The Big Read at SoFAB:  21st Century Perspectives on The Grapes of Wrath” at Louisiana Book Festival from 4 to 5 p.m. in the State Capitol Building, House Committee Room 3.

             At 6 p.m. Nov. 5 at Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library in Metairie Dr. David Beriss will deliver the keynote address, “The Milk of Solidarity and The Grapes of Wrath in the 21st Century.”

             A screening of “The Grapes of Wrath” begins at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library in Metairie, a film directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Henry F. Griffin, assistant professor in the department of film and theatre at UNO, will give a talk before the screening.

            The final event begins at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. “Pouring it Out:  The Depression, Prohibition and “The Grapes of Wrath” includes a talk by Elizabeth Pearce, cocktail historian, and a special cocktail!

            For a full calendar of events for The Big Read in New Orleans, visit  www.southernfood.org or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-Food-and-Beverage-Museum/131344381856.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.