Explore the theme of “Health Equity: Where We Live” with Suffolk Public Library and Old Dominion University through the powerful memoir Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig. Discussions will focus on health equity, how our environments influence our health outcomes and hope for the future as we promote health opportunities for all. For adults.

No registration required to attend. Registration is required to reserve a copy of the book to keep, available at no cost and with no library card required. Registrants will receive an email when their book is ready for pickup.

About the Author

Rebekah Taussig will challenge everything you think you know about disability as she invites us into her experience of living in a body that looks and moves differently than most. “What would it mean for disabled folks if society saw us as acceptable, equal, valuable parts of the whole?” she writes in her memoir, Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body (HarperOne).

About NEA Big Read at ODU

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read is a national initiative that aims to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Managed by Arts Midwest, this program provides grants to support dynamic community reading programs, each designed around a single book selection. By bringing people together through literature, the NEA Big Read fosters meaningful conversations and a deeper appreciation for diverse perspectives.

As the 2024-25 recipients of the NEA Big Read grant, our common read is Rebekah Taussig’s powerful memoir Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body, a profound exploration of disability, identity, and resilience, that offers a poignant and insightful perspective on navigating the world as a person with a disability. It also allows us to explore the theme of “Health Equity: Where We Live.”  Under this theme, all programming will highlight the critical intersections between health and community well-being. Through a series of events, discussions, and activities, we aim to explore how the environments we live in influence our health outcomes and what we can do as a community to promote equitable health opportunities for all. Visit the ODU website for more information.