Header image: Abstinencia (Libertad) (detail) by Yoan Capote, 2014

NEA Big Read: Central Florida • Jan 20 – Apr 15, 2024
Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

In 2024, the NEA Big Read: Central Florida celebrates Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky.

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.

#NEABigRead

National Endowment for the Arts Big Read, Managed by Arts Midwest - arts.gov/neabigread


Events

UCF is one of 61 communities nationwide participating in the NEA Big Read in 2023-24. From January to April 2024, our community will celebrate Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic with a full calendar of events including book clubs, special lectures, book signings, theatrical productions and art exhibitions at both the John C. Hitt Library and the Rollins Museum of Art.

Seminole County Public Libraries will host book clubs at each of its five branches, offering daytime and evening discussion groups. Additional book clubs are planned at the John C. Hitt Library, the Rollins Museum of Art, the Central Florida Reception Center, Lake Correctional Institution, and Polk Correctional Institution.


Deaf Republic book cover detail

Kick Off and Book Giveaway

Monday, January 22, 2024, 1–3 p.m. EST • UCF Main Campus, John C. Hitt Library

Pick up your complimentary copy of Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic (while supplies last) and learn more about how you can participate in the NEA Big Read: Central Florida.

Tables will be located on the 2nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library.


Detail of Richard Mosse's artwork 'First We Take Manhattan,' 2012.

Silent Protest: Perspectives on War and Disability

January 20, 2024 – April 7, 2024 • Rollins Museum of Art

In his 2019 book Deaf Republic, poet Ilya Kaminsky explores the impact of war, displacement, and the experience of trauma on those living with a disability. The power of the literal and metaphorical voice is central to Kaminsky’s evocative story as he weaves descriptions of violence and uncertainty with impactful scenes of resilience and hope. This exhibition, co-curated by Dr. Keri Watson, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Central Florida, and Dr. Gisela Carbonell, Curator of the Rollins Museum of Art and drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, brings together a selection of works that address these themes from multiple artistic perspectives. Examining notions of silence, communication, memory, and conflict in the personal and political arenas, Silent Protest includes excerpts from Deaf Republic displayed in the gallery alongside paintings, photographs, objects and prints that encourage viewers to pause and reflect.

More Info


FINDING their VOICE: Identity, Reflection, Expression, Self-discovery

Finding Their Voice

February 19 – April 19, 2024 • UCF Main Campus, John C. Hitt Library

Finding one’s voice is a deeply personal and introspective journey, often shaped by life experiences, self-reflection, and personal growth. The “Finding Their Voice” exhibition explores how artists, authors, activists, and ordinary people articulate their unique voices. Artists convey their voices through color, medium, texture, and form, serving as visual echoes of their inner dialogue. Authors use the written word to explore and communicate their innermost feelings and thoughts as they search for their narrative voice. Activists find their voice through impassioned actions that echo their convictions. Ordinary people express their voices through conversations, creative pursuits, or standing up for their beliefs.

Drawn from the collections in the University of Central Florida Libraries Special Collections & University Archives department, this exhibition’s artwork, literature, and stories capture the essence of introspection, offering a poignant reflection on the power of self-discovery and authentic expression that sets individuals apart and defines their identity. In addition to celebrating the diversity of voices around us, this exhibition invites visitors to contemplate their journey to find their voice.

The exhibit will be held in the Special Collections & University Archives Gallery on the fourth floor of the John C. Hitt Library on UCF’s main campus.


Keri Watson

Lecture by NEA Big Read Organizer Keri Watson

Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 6 p.m. EST • Rollins Museum of Art

Join Dr. Keri Watson, Associate Professor of Art History, co-curator of “Silent Protest: Perspectives on War and Disability,” and co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Art and Disability (2022), in a discussion of Ilya Kaminsky’s 2019 book Deaf Republic, the impact of war and displacement on those living with a disability, and the power of art to transform society.


Ilya Kaminsky

#Faces of Russian Resistance Art Exhibition

April 3-14 • Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

This exhibition tells the story of sixteen Russian citizens who openly oppose the War in Ukraine. The panels tell their stories, share the laws under which they were convicted, and outline the terms of the sentences they received for fighting the regime, calling attention to the war, and for not remaining silent.

Citizens: Alexei Gorinov ● Ilya Yashin ● Alexey Nuriev & Roman Nasryev ● Vladimir Kara-Murza ● Mikhail Krieger ● Lilia Chanysheva ● Yuri Dmitriev ● Alexei Navalny ● Andrei Pivovarov ● Sasha Skochilenko ● Natalia Filonova ● Dmitry Ivanov ● Maria Ponomarenko ● Alexey Moskaliev ● Zarifa Sautieva ● Vsevolod Korolev

Sponsored by the NEA Big Read and the Florida Prison Education Project

Florida Prison Education Project


Ilya Kaminsky

Poetry Reading and Book Signing by Ilya Kaminsky

Saturday, April 6, 2024, 1 p.m. EST • Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Ilya Kaminsky is a USSR-born, Ukrainian-Jewish-American poet, critic, translator and professor. He is best known for his poetry collections Dancing in Odessa and Deaf Republic, which have earned him several awards. In 2019, the BBC named Kaminsky among “12 artists who changed the world.”

The event will be held in the DeVos Family Room at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this event do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Logos for Florida Humanities, Florida Arts & Culture, and National Endowment for the Humanities


Ilya Kaminsky

Performing Deaf Republic

Sunday, April 7, 2024, 1-3 p.m. EST • Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Deaf Republic (2019) follows a family of puppeteers as they struggle to resist the war that surrounds them. Drawing connections between global and local political conflicts and conveying the importance of standing up to tyranny, Deaf Republic weaves a rich allegory of the urgency of collective action in times of oppression. Told in two acts, it begins with a shooting of Petya, a deaf boy, by soldiers occupying the fictional town of Vasenka. In response to his murder, the townspeople collectively go deaf, inventing their own sign language and using puppets to resist their oppressors. As the sound of the gun that kills Petya triggers deafness in the villagers, disability acts as a metaphor for the limitations of empathy and dangers of ignorance. Join Theatre UCF for a theatrical adaptation of Deaf Republic, followed by a talkback with the creative team.

The event will be held in the DeVos Family Room at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.


Burhan Sönmez

The Literature of Kurdish Writers with Burhan Sönmez

Monday, April 15, 2024, noon EST • UCF Main Campus, John C. Hitt Library

Burhan Sönmez is a Kurdish human rights lawyer and novelist from Turkey. He is the President of PEN International, elected at the Centennial Congress in 2021. He is also Senior Member and a By-Fellow of Hughes Hall College, University of Cambridge. Sönmez is the author of five novels. He will discuss the literature of Kurdish writers and the situation of Kurdish culture in Kurdish regions and the diaspora.

The event will be held in the John C. Hitt Library’s Multipurpose Room 402 on the UCF main campus and moderated by Günes Murat Tezcür, Director and Professor, School of Politics & Global Studies, Arizona State University.

Funding for this program was provided by the Kurdish Political Studies Program in the UCF School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs.


2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of Tayari Jones’ award-winning novel, Silver Sparrow. Jones’ book … offers an excellent opportunity for UCF to bring impactful programs that celebrate the role of literature in our community. Our programming will coincide with UCF’s celebration of Black History Month, and we are working with Africana Studies to bring the Big Read to a new campus audience.

Keri Watson, Director of the NEA Big Read: Central Florida

Reading Resources

Interested in hosting a virtual book club? Want to learn more about the book?
NEA Big Read provides author commentary, reading and teaching guides and more.

THE BIG READ @ THE LIBRARY

Seminole County Public Library book clubs will read and discuss Deaf Republic. All clubs and discussions are free and open to the public.

  • Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 10 a.m. – Central Branch Library
    215 N. Oxford Rd. • Casselberry, Florida 32707 • 407.665.1500
  • Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – West Branch Library
    245 N. Hunt Club Boulevard • Longwood, Florida 32779 • 407.665.1670
  • Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 12:30 p.m. – Northwest Branch Library
    580 Green Way Boulevard • Lake Mary, Florida 32746 • 407.665.1640
  • Tuesday, April 2, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – Central Branch Library
    215 N. Oxford Rd. • Casselberry, Florida 32707 • 407.665.1500
  • Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – West Branch Library
    245 N. Hunt Club Boulevard • Longwood, Florida 32779 • 407.665.1670
  • Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – East Branch Library
    310 Division Street • Oviedo, Florida 32765 • 407.665.1560
  • Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 1 p.m. – East Branch Library
    310 Division Street • Oviedo, Florida 32765 • 407.665.1560
  • Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – North Branch Library
    150 N. Palmetto Avenue • Sanford, Florida 32771 • 407.665.1620

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.