The Great Michigan Read
The Great Michigan Read is a book club for the entire state. With a statewide focus on a single book – Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen (pronounced bit-min-win) – it encourages Michiganians to learn more about their state, their history, and their society (see press release).
Stealing Buddha’s Dinner is a memoir that chronicles the author’s migration from Vietnam in 1975 and her coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the 1980s. Along the way, she struggles to construct her own cultural identity from a menagerie of uniquely American influences. The book was selected by a group of nearly 50 librarians, teachers, students, professors, authors, and others from all corners of the state.
Participate
Pick up a copy of Stealing Buddha’s Dinner and the reader’s guide at Meijer, your local library, or your favorite bookseller. Read and share the book, talk about it with your friends, and join The Great Michigan Read community on Facebook. Participate in free Great Michigan Read free programs in your area. Over 1,100 Michigan residents met the author during her October 13-17, 2009 tour to Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Midland, Lansing, and Plymouth.
Share your thoughts about the program and Stealing Buddha's Dinner by taking the online audience survey.
Partner
Register your library, school, book club, company, or other group and receive copies of reader’s guides, teacher’s guides, bookmarks, and posters at no cost. Nonprofit cultural organizations may apply to host Their Journey: Vietnamese in Michigan, a small, traveling exhibit that augments the Great Michigan Read. Council grants are available to support eligible Great Michigan Read programs; Council staff can help you develop a program to meet your needs. Ideas include:
- Working with a local author to conduct a writing workshop that encourages participants to explore their past in memoir form.
- Hosting a humanities professional to lead a group discussion of the truth, fiction, and mythology of the “American Dream.”
- Collaborating with a community historical society to record local immigrant stories and present them in a public exhibition.
- Purchasing bulk copies of Stealing Buddha’s Dinner and utilizing the teacher’s guide to incorporate the book into a high school language arts class.
Chapter 9 of Stealing Buddha’s Dinner (“Down with Grapes”) appeared, along with the three reflective essays, in a special section of the October 9, 2009 Detroit Free Press. Register online for free copies of this resource.
Bulk copies of the book are available for purchase through Meijer; contact gerry.wilding [at] meijer.com or mark.chenier [at] meijer.com for details.
The Great Michigan Read is a biannual program.The 2007-08 selection was Ernest Hemingway's The Nick Adams Stories, which inspired more than 500 programs in 75 of Michigan's 83 counties, including a six-city author tour with Valerie Hemingway and a Michigan Author Homecoming featuring Richard Ford, Jim Harrison, and Thomas McGuane.
Contact Gregory Parker (gparker [at] mihumanities.org) for more information.
Partner Resources
Their Journey: Vietnamese in Michigan exhibit host application (link fixed 11/11)
Partner registration and materials request
Event submission for online calendar
2009-2010 Reader's Guide
2009-2010 Teacher's Guide
High Resolution Photos, Logos
Bich Minh Nguyen (courtesy Bich Minh Nguyen)
Stealing Buddha's Dinner (courtesy Penguin Books)
The Great Michigan Read (courtesy Michigan Humanities Council)
Their Journey: Vietnamese in Michigan
Their Journey: Vietnamese in Michigan is a small, traveling exhibit that provides additional historical context to Bich Minh Nguyen’s Stealing Buddha’s Dinner. The exhibit includes photos from Grand Rapids and Vietnam, along with political, cultural, and personal perspectives of the journey of Vietnamese immigrants to Michigan following the Vietnam War. It consists of eight, thematically arranged banners, each 39” x 84”. The eight panels discuss:
1. About Vietnam
2. Vietnam and the Cold War
3. The U.S. War in Vietnam
4. Refugees Come to Michigan
5. Bich Minh Nguyen’s Journey ... in her own words (Pt. I)
6. Bich Minh Nguyen’s Journey ... in her own words (Pt. II)
7. Refugees Life in Michigan
8. About Bich Minh Nguyen
Six sites will host the exhibit from 2009 through May 2010. Host sites will provide local programming relating to Stealing Buddha's Dinner and its themes (immigration stories, cultural identity, contemporary history).
Exhibit schedule: The five sites for 2010 were announced on December 1, 2009.
- December 1-28, 2009 (Grand Rapids Public Library)
- January 1-26 2010 (Fremont Area District Library, Fremont)
- February 1-24, 2010 (University of Michigan Hatcher Graduate Library, Ann Arbor)
- March 1-26, 2010 (Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City)
- April 1-26, 2010 (Stair Public Library, Morenci)
- May 10-31, 2010 (Cromaine District Library, Hartland)
Application to host the exhibit: Between November 1 - 20, the Council received applications from nonprofit cultural organizations across Michigan. The Council will not charge booking fees, but host organizations will be required to pay for shipping to the next venue. Applications are evaluated on opening statement, supporting programs, publicity plan, and geographic distribution.
Exhibit sponsorship: Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Meijer, and Citizens Bank – Saginaw.
Council Programs
- The Great Michigan Read
- Arts & Humanities Media Project
- Arts & Humanities Touring Program
- Picturing America in Michigan
- Poetry Out Loud
- PRIME TIME Family Reading Time®
Welcome Message
Sponsors
Their Journey: Vietnamese in Michigan
The following images are among those featured in the exhibit. Click on each to download a high-resolution version.
Their Journey: Vietnamese in Michigan exhibit front two panels.
US. Army Captain Barbara Hulstt (right) escorts a group of 20 Vietnamese refugees at the Kent County Airport. Photo courtesy Jay C. Abbott, Grand Rapids Press.
Summer baseball game at the Congress Elementary School playground, Grand Rapids. Photo courtesy Hoyt E. Carrier II, Grand Rapids Press.
Bich Minh Nguyen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, her current home, 2007. Photo courtesy Erin Mash, Grand Rapids Press.