Join Star Tribune theater and book critic Chris Hewitt and author and essayist Laurie Allmann for a discussion of last year’s ArtReach NEA Big Read book, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Chris and Laurie will be joined by Stillwater native and filmmaker Scott Steindorff, who is currently in production with a HBO Max series based on the book. Please register to participate in this online discussion through Zoom. Zoom meeting information will be sent to registrants.

Station Eleven tells the story of a small band of actors and musicians 20 years after a flu pandemic has wiped out 99% of the Earth’s population. While the tale highlights the fragility of our existence, our violent nature, and our capacity to survive despite the inevitable hardships of starvation, loneliness, and chaos, the story Emily St. John Mandel chooses to tell is not one of horror and mayhem that would befall the survivors. Station Eleven describes a world of hope, of people coping with nostalgia and loss, both in the present and the future, of the power of art and relationships to fulfill us, sustain us, and nurture us back to our best selves. (excerpt of summary from Arts Midwest)

The discussion is offered as part of April’s NEA Big Read in the St. Croix Valley, a one book, one community program that brings together residents from throughout the St. Croix Valley around a common book. For more Big Read events in the valley, go to https://www.artreachstcroix.org/bigread/.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. NEA Big Read is designed to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. ArtReach St. Croix is presenting the NEA Big Read in the St. Croix Valley in conjunction with core program partners Valley Bookseller, Stillwater Public Library, St. Croix Festival Theatre, UW River Falls, River Falls Public Library and library branches located in communities between St. Croix Falls, WI and Hastings, MN.