Literature Publications

To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence
This report is a new and comprehensive analysis of reading patterns of children, teenagers, and adults in the United States. To Read or Not To Read assembled data on reading trends from more than 40 sources, including federal agencies, universities, foundations, and associations. The compendium expands the investigation of the NEA's landmark 2004 report, Reading at Risk, and reveals recent declines in voluntary reading and test scores alike, exposing trends that have severe consequences for American society. November 2007. 100 pp.
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To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence Executive Summary
20 pp.
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Big Read Catalog
This publication provides information on the first 21 books to be featured in the NEA's Big Read initiative, including brief book and author descriptions and information on themes, film adaptations, performance possibilities, and accessability materials. Information on how to apply to the program is also included. June 2007. 28 pp.
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NEA Literature Fellowships: 40 Years of Supporting American Writers
The publication includes a list of all the writers and translators who have received the award, as well as a brief history of the fellowship program, sidebars highlighting some of the NEA Literature Fellows, and a section on NEA Literature Fellows
who have received other national awards and honors.
March 2006. 60 pp.
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Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary
Reading in America
This report presents the results from the literature segment of the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted by the Census Bureau in 2002 at the NEA's request. The survey asked more than 17,000 adults if during the previous 12 months they had read any novels, short stories, poetry or plays in their leisure time, that were not required for work or school. The report extrapolates and interprets data on literary reading and compares them with results from similar surveys carried out in 1982 and 1992. July 2004. 60 pp.
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Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary
Reading in America Executive Summary
6 pp.
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Operation Homecoming Guide for Writers
A new resource for troops and veterans participating in the current phase of Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience. The guide features selections from the Operation Homecoming anthology paired thematically with writings by veterans of past conflicts. The guide also offers writing exercises and essays on the elements of literature – such as narrative structure, dialogue, and perspective – to help troops and veterans begin writing or refine their stories. NEA 2008. 48 pp.
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Operation Homecoming Booklet
The Operation Homecoming booklet will be distributed free to the troops participating in the writing workshops. It includes biographies of the writers visiting bases and those reading on the audio CD. The booklet also includes  the Operation Homecoming anthology submission guidelines. NEA 2004. 28 pp.
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Writing America
A literary anthology of 50 poets and writers who have received NEA Creative Writing Fellowships providing a glimpse of the tremendous vitality and diversity of contemporary American literature. NEA 1997, revised 1999. 112pp.
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