Reading program to showcase Morris book

One Book One Nebraska 2010 will showcase “The Home Place” by Wright Morris, a native of Central City, Neb.

The book — which includes photos — is a fictional first-person account of Clyde Muncy’s one-day visit to his home place at Lone Tree, Neb.

Morris shot the photos for the book, published in 1948. Mary Jo Ryan, of the Nebraska Library Commission, said the book is considered groundbreaking because of the pairing of a photo page with a text page, which Morris called “photo-text.”

In its sixth year, One Book One Nebraska emphasizes and encourages Nebraskans to read a work by a Nebraska author. Libraries, book clubs, museums and historical groups plan events and activities related to the book.

Past titles and authors are: “A Lantern in Her Hand” by Bess Streeter Aldrich (2009); “Restoring the Burnt Child” by William Kloefkorn (2008); “Crazy Horse” by Mari Sandoz (2007); “One False Move” by Alex Kava (2006); and “My Ántonia” by Willa Cather (2005).

The Lone Tree Literary Society in Central City proposed Morris’ work to the Nebraska Center for the Book as a way of honoring the author on the 100th anniversary of his birth. He was born Jan. 6, 1910. Prolific well into the 1980s, Morris died in 1998.

He received the National Book Award in 1957 for “The Field of Vision” and the American Book Award in 1981 for “Plains Song.” Nebraska figures prominently in many of the author’s works.

One Book One Nebraska is hosted by the Lone Tree Literary Society, www.wrightmorris.org, and sponsored by a coalition of organizations including the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, Nebraska Library Association, Nebraska Library Commission and University of Nebraska Press.

Contact the writer:

444-1059, rhonda.stansberry@owh.com

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