Join the Santa Barbara Public Library for a month of exploration into creativity and the creative process. SB Reads: Create! will use Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear and our knowledgeable community of local artists to delve into this topic through a combination of book discussions, artist workshops, film screenings, and virtual author talk with Elizabeth Gilbert, herself.
Free copies of Big Magic, in English and Spanish, will be available to pick up at the Library’s Sidewalk Service beginning on Saturday, October 31, and a virtual visit with author Elizabeth Gilbert will be held Wednesday, November 11. Click here to read our press release about SB Reads: Create!
Santa Barbara Reads was made possible this year through the generous support of The Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation, California Humanities, California Arts Council, and the National Arts and Disability Center at the University of California Los Angeles.
Relief Printmaking for Beginners with Oliver Murray
November 6, 10, 13 at 4:00 pm
Journaling to Uncover Our Own Big Magic with Christina Gessler
November 7, 14, 21, December 5 at 10:00 am
The DNA of Rock ‘N Roll with Darrell McNeill
November 9, 16, 23, 30 at 5:30 pm
Art-Making Exploration for Teens with FoundCreate’s Emily Summers and Jason Summers
November 17, 18, 19 at 5:00 pm
Nichos Workshop with Bany Vargas, presented bilingually in English and Spanish
December 2 at 5:30 PM
Facebook Live Connecting Thru Sign Language Storytelling Hour - November 14, 1:00 pm
“Silent House” a film by Hugo Martinez and Jonathan Reyes to premiere November 20
“AQUAVAX” a film by Tirzah Farley and Emily Grigor to premiere December 6
In Conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert
Wednesday, November 11 at 6:00 pm
Creative Quest by Questlove
Saturday, November 21 at 1:00 pm
Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected by Nnedi Okorafor
Thursday, December 3 at 5:45 pm
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
Saturday, December 5 at 2:00 pm
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.
This activity was supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Arts and Disability Center at the University of California Los Angeles. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.
Each year the Santa Barbara Reads program offers one title to the community with the goal that everyone will read the same book at the same time, sparking engagement and conversations about the themes in the book and how they relate to our lives.
For full program details view the Library's calendar of events.
2020 | Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert |
2019 | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz |
2018 | Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley - Bicentennial publication anniversary |
2017 | Station Eleven (NEA Big Read) by Emily St. John Mandel |
2016 | Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson |
2015 | Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman |
2014 | The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan |
2013 | Moonwalking with Einstein: the Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer |
2013 | The Things They Carried (NEA Big Read) by Tim O'Brien |
2012 | Moby-Duck by Donovan Hohn |
2011 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot |
2010 | Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario |
2009 | Fahrenheit 451 (NEA Big Read) by Ray Bradbury |
2009 | Ethics for the New Millennium by His Holiness the Dalai Lama |
2008 | Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson |
2008 | The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli |
2007 | Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder |
2007 | Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell |
2007 | Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert |
2006 | My California: Journeys By Great Writers edited by Donna Wares |
2005 | When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka |
2004 | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon |
2003 | Life of Pi by Yann Martel |
2002 | The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle |