Oceanside CA— The Oceanside Public Library is pleased to host two panel discussions as part of Oceanside’s Big Read, featuring Charles Portis’ western classic, True Grit. The first program, “The Unexpected, Indefatigable Mattie Ross,” will take place in the Civic Center Library Community Rooms on Tuesday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. In this lively discussion, Mattie’s character will be explored in the context of our contemporary societal expectations of women’s roles, compared to the 1968 period when True Grit was published.
The second panel discussion, “True Grit: The Tomboy in Literature and Film,” will be held on Wednesday, September 30 at 5:30 p.m. in the Civic Center Library Foundation Room. In partnership with the North County LGBTQ Center, guest scholars will discuss the role of Mattie from the novel, and how it relates to the tomboy, gender roles and feminism in the books and film.
To wrap up Oceanside’s Big Read, an extraordinary finale event, “True Grit and the Further Adventures of Charles Portis with author Jay Jennings,” will be held on Saturday, October 3 at 2:00 p.m. at the Civic Center Library. Keynote speaker Jay Jennings will explain why True Grit is not just a great genre story, but great literature; offer biographical information about Mr. Portis and his writing career as a journalist and novelist; and discuss his other novels. In addition, he will reveal some exclusive background information about how both movie versions were made.
A friend of Charles Portis for 30 years, Jennings is a freelance writer, whose journalism, humor and essays have appeared in many national literary journals, magazines, and newspapers, including the New York Times, the Oxford American and Travel & Leisure. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times Book Review and the San Francisco Chronicle’s Books section. Along with TV writer Graham Gordy (“Rectify,” “Quarry”), he has optioned the rights to the Portis novel The Dog of the South, and they are adapting it as a feature film. This event is not to be missed!
For more information on this event, please contact Monica Chapa Domercq, Project Coordinator, at 760-435-5600. You also can view a full calendar of events for The Big Read in Oceanside at www.oceansidepubliclibrary.org.
 The Oceanside Public Library, as the cultural heart of Oceanside, empowers the community by promoting literacy, information access, civic engagement, cultural inclusiveness, and openness to new ideas. The Mission of the Oceanside Public Library is to engage, inform, connect and inspire.