Duncan Public Library is thrilled to announce that author Thi Bui (“Thi like the drink and Bui like the thing that floats on water,” says the author’s website) will be visiting the library at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, to discuss her graphic memoir The Best We Could Do!
Her graphic memoir begins with Bui in the hospital giving birth to her first child and becomes an exploration of her family’s history, her parents’ childhoods, and their family journey to the United States as refugees. It’s a beautiful and powerful exploration of family and art. Bui is visiting Duncan as part of the library’s partnership with Lawton for the 2024-2025 NEA Big Read series, a month long series of events centering around one amazing book. This year’s NEA Big Read will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 at the museum of the Great Plains in Lawton.
“This will be our third year partnering with Lawton for their NEA Big Read,” says Jessica Allmon, outreach coordinator for the library. “It’s been amazing every year! We get to bring wonderful literature to both of our communities, make new connections, and have tons of fun. I look forward to it every year, and even more so with the opportunity to meet such a talented author.”
An initiative 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 power of a shared reading experience.
Duncan and Lawton are part of 62 communities nationwide participating in the 2024-2025 NEA Big Read. From the October 12th Kick-Off our communities will celebrate The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui with a full calendar of events including book talks, a visit from the author in both Lawton and Duncan, a Kitchen Travels program to taste pho, a discussion of graphic novels as Literature, and more!
For more information about this year’s NEA Big Read events in Lawton please contact arts@lawtonok.gov. For more information on Duncan’s events, please contact Jessica Allmon at jessica.allmon@duncanok.gov. You can also view a full calendar of events at swokarts.com. For just the Duncan events, please view the Duncan Public Library’s newsletter at the library’s website or on the Duncan Public Library’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
The Duncan Public Library is located at 3785 N Hwy 81, Duncan OK.