This event is virtual (and not in-person) via Zoom. Please click HERE to register. 

New Hampshire Humanities will host Dr. Brett Ryan Bellamy for a discussion exploring what The Bear, alongside other post-apocalyptic books, reveals about our contemporary anxieties. 

The “American Century” – the period marked by United States’ global dominance following WWII and corresponding fears about its decline – saw the proliferation of post-apocalyptic novels being published. While these novels may begin at a moment of catastrophe, they are not about the end of the world. In this talk, Dr. Brent Bellamy, using The Bear as an example, will explore how post-apocalyptic novels use endings and the persistence of things to represent cultural conflicts and hopes for a better world. Sometimes these catastrophic stories tell us something new about places and relationships taken for granted.  

Hampstead and all Big Read partner organizations are welcome to attend this event!

NEA Big Reads is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.