BATH – Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance was awarded $15,000 as part of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read initiative.

The money will support two book club events, one in northern Maine and one in southern Maine, as well as Web site upgrades for the organization. The upgrades will eventually allow the alliance to promote more Maine authors, Big Read-style, on its Web site.

The alliance chose Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club” from the list of 12 approved titles.

“This novel was Amy Tan’s first sell, and that experience resonates with writers in Maine,” said Executive Director Shonna Milliken Humphrey. “Maine is such a geographically disparate community, we’ve discovered that one of the best ways to reach our writers is through the Internet. My hope is that MWPA will be implementing Big Read goals online long after a single event.”

The National Endowment for the Arts more than doubled the number of communities taking part in its nationwide reading program, the Big Read. One hundred seventeen cities were awarded grants to produce celebrations of American literature from September through December 2007.

The Big Read, launched nationally in October 2006 by the NEA, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, encourages literary reading by asking communities to come together to read and discuss one book.

The kick-off event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, at the University of Southern Maine’s Glickman Family Library. Free copies of “The Joy Luck Club” will be provided, along with refreshments. The public is invited.

A partner event will be held with the Portland Public Library as part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series at noon Wednesday, Sept. 19.

For more information, contact Milliken Humphrey at 228-8263 or [email protected].