CWU's Big Read Kicks Off Friday

Tim O’Brien, author of “The Things They Carried,” will speak in Ellensburg in April to cap Central Washington University’s Big Read events.

CWU’s Big Read will officially kick off at 6 p.m. Friday at Ellensburg’s Clymer Museum & Gallery with a reception and speaking appearances by Mayor Rich Elliott and local Vietnam War veteran Rob Fraser.

As with most Big Read events, copies of the book will be available. “The Things They Carried” is a collection of linked short stories about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. O’Brien, who grew up in Minnesota, was a soldier during the Vietnam War.

Two events took place in January. Brooks Library hosted its annual winter quarter book kickoff on Jan. 9. And “The Things We Carry” exhibit opened Jan. 11 in the CWU Museum of Culture and Environment. The exhibit will run through March 11 and showcases “moving stories” from people living in Kittitas County.

Read more of this story in the Yakima Herald.