Silicon Valley Reads Brings Three Months of Events

Silicon Valley Reads 2012 is celebrating its 10th year in Santa Clara County with  three-months worth of events.

Silicon Valley Reads is hosted annually by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, Santa Clara County Library and San Jose Public Library Foundation.

The Silicon Valley Reads 2012 Calendar of Events includes the below special activities, and a complete list of events is available at siliconvalleyreads.org. 

Silicon Valley Reads 2012 Calendar of Events:

• Invoking Peace - an exhibit of Islamic Art at the at De Anza College, Feb. 3-March 17.  

• Silicon Valley Reads On The Air - an interactive TV book club broadcast live on CreaTVs in February, March and April where viewers can call, email, text or Tweet their comments and questions.  

• Paranoid Politics – Islamophobia, McCarthyism and the Yellow Peril - a panel discussion on April 3 at the Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos with panelists author Wajahat Ali, Congressman Mike Honda and Dr. Larry Gerston, emeritus political science professor at San Jose State University and political analyst for NBC11.       

• Our Religious Neighbors Next Door - a project coordinated by the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council that asks people to submit photos that capture the distinctive identities of the region’s diverse population for a collection that will be published online and exhibited at the Silicon Valley Reads closing event in April.       

• One Through Love - a film and readings of the poetry of Rumi, a 13th century Muslim mystic who is the most popular poet in America. The program features Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Sally Ashton, and Los Gatos Poet Laureate Parthenia Hicks. It is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, 7 p.m. at the De Anza College Visual & Performing Arts Center.        

• Sound of the Soul - a documentary about the Fez World Festival of Sacred Music, on Sunday, March 11, 2 p.m. at the De Anza College Visual and Performing Arts Center. Film director Stephen Olsson will introduce the film and answer questions afterwards.

Funding of the program comes from donations by local foundations, businesses, community groups and individuals.