75th Anniversary: Grapes of Wrath Trek Revisited

Shelf Awareness

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the National Steinbeck Center, Salinas, Calif., is sponsoring a tour that will retrace the route of the Joad family from Oklahoma to California, beginning tomorrow and ending October 14.
On the tour, a team of artists, including playwright Octavio Solis, visual artist Patricia Wakida and filmmaker P.J. Palmer, will collect oral histories and aims to answer "three critical questions inspired by The Grapes of Wrath: What keeps you going? What do you turn to in hard times? What brings you joy when times are tough?"

At each stop along the route, the Center will also host or participate in public programs, panel discussions and creative workshops about The Grapes of Wrath. At each stop, the Penguin Group will use the Penguin Book Truck and Penguin Pushcart to sell Steinbeck titles.
Among the stops: the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History and the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The official Journey blog is live at GrapesofWrath75.org. The trip can also be followed at Twitter.com/steinbeckcenter, Facebook.com/NationalSteinbeckCenter, YouTube.com/steinbeckcenter1 and Instagram.com/steinbeckcenter.