Big Read Closing Ceremony

Join us for an exciting Big Read in Charlotte culminating ceremony featuring a talk with Homegoing author Yaa Gyasi. The talk will be moderated by Dr. Valerie Kinloch, president of Johnson C. Smith University. Drums 4 Life will usher in the spirit and energy of Ghana through their electrifying performances. The evening will also include several students who will highlight their winning poetry and art.

The Big Read is a five-month-long series of free events designed to inform, engage, and promote literacy in our community – centered on the community-wide reading of Homegoing. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest created to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience.

This free and family-friendly event is open to all ages! is located on the lower level of the Knight Theater.

Yaa Gyasi is the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel Homegoing and a recipient of the National Book Foundation's 2016 "5 Under 35" award. Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. She holds a BA in English from Stanford University and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she held a Dean’s Graduate Research Fellowship. Her second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, was published in September 2020. She lives in New York City.

Dr. Valerie Kinloch became the 15th president of Johnson C. Smith University on August 3, 2023. With nearly three decades of experience in higher education, Kinloch has distinguished herself as a passionate educator who has taught and/or served in administrative roles at The Ohio State University, Columbia University’s Teachers College, University of Houston-Downtown and, most recently, University of Pittsburgh.

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

Host or Publisher Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture