December 4, 2009
Attleboro, Massachusetts

Attleboro Public Library recently wrapped up their Big Read project on the poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Here’s a report on their final event—in the words of Big Reader Victor Bonneville—for which the library partnered with a local middle school. (Photo courtesy of Attleboro Public Library.)

Take the entire seventh grade (160 kids), add two English-Language Arts teachers, a Reading/Writing coach, a music teacher, a computer teacher and an art teacher, stir in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and what do you get?  A Poe Night to Remember!  That’s just what happened at the Robert J. Coelho Middle School as The Big Read and Attleboro’s 1 Adventure, 1 Book, 1 Community (1 ABC) ended the community-wide reading of Edgar Allan Poe. . . The entire student body and their parents, as well as the broader community, were invited to attend.  And attend they did, nearly filling the school’s auditorium.

With origami birds and ravens lining the corridor to the auditorium, the audience proceeded to view student art work which visually  interpreted  “The Tell Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and other stories and poems. Members of the audience were given programs, with the works by Poe that would be read during the performances. The program started with a Power Point presentation on Poe’s poetry followed by a musical reading of “The Bells” with appropriate bells by the chorus.  “The Tell-Tale Heart” began with  911 calls alerting the police that loud screaming was heard in the dead of night followed by a police investigation, which led to the beating-heart climax with students playing the beating heart on large empty plastic cans to great effect. Not to be outdone, a reading of “The Raven” with a black, costumed raven screeching “nevermore” was performed.  And just when you thought that this must be the highlight, on comes the performance of “The Pit and the Pendulum” with masked inquisitors hovering over the victim as vocabulary words from the story, chosen by the students, flashed on a screen in the background.  Some inquisitors wandered through the audience seeking others to question!  Fortunately, they found no suspious characters in attendance.

The evening ended with all the students taking bows on stage to appreciative applause followed by light refreshments. Truly a Poe Night to Remember and a fitting ending to the Big Read‘s 2009 bi-centennial celebration of Poe in Attleboro.

Want to find out what’s happening with The Big Read in your neck of the woods? Visit The Big Read calendar!

December 2, 2009
Washington, DC

In October, the Oak Park Public Library hosted a show by 22 local artists of visual art inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Here are just a few images from the show, which the library’s Debby Preiser dubbed “one of the most popular exhibits in the Oak Park Public Library Gallery in the past six years.” (Images used with permission of the artists.)

“Edgar Allan Poe” by Frank Marshall

Untitled by Sarah Koten

“Quote the Raven” by Ann Farrell

“Poe” by Steve Fisher

Take a look at the Edgar Allan Poe educational materials on The Big Read website to learn more about this pioneering poet and writer.

Photo by Pete Smith, courtesy of Harry Ransom Center. (See more from this series here.)

The Big Read blog will be on a hiatus from Tuesday, November 10 to Monday, November 16. Look for a new blog post on Tuesday, November 17.

In the meantime, visit The Big Read website to find out what’s going on in The Big Read across the nation and to learn more about the titles and authors in The Big Read library.

Happy Reading!

November 3, 2009
Washington, DC

Members of the Attleboro Historic Preservation Society don period garb for a rainy but rousing reading of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe. Photo courtesy Attleboro Public Library.

Attleboro Public Library is one of two dozen organizations across the country that are turning to the poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe during the 2009-2010 Big Read. Project Co-chair Victor Bonneville filed this report from the field, which proves that even inclement weather’s no match for intrepid Big Readers! (Thanks to Joan Pilkington-Smyth for sending in pix and keeping us posted on APL’s Big Read activities.)

Our cemetery walk was advertised as “Poe in Love,” with readings of Poe’s poetry to and from Sarah Helen Whitman.  The concept was to meander around the Kirk Burial Ground, which is one of Attleboro’s oldest burial grounds and is located behind the Second Congregational Church.  Ted Moxham from the church would provide some background about the burial ground and select six stones of interest to discuss.  At each stone I would give some information regarding Poe’s romance with Sarah Helen Whitman of Providence, Rhode Island.  (We had recently done a Poe Walk in Providence, visiting Sarah’s house and the Providence Athenaeum where Poe and Sarah met.)

This would be followed by Poe’s poems “Spirits of the Dead,” “Annabel Lee,” “To Helen,” “Our Island of Dreams,” and Walt Whitman’s “Lines.”  The concluding poem would be “Alone.”  Since Poe proposed to Sarah in a cemetery and because both were fascinated by death and the afterlife, we thought the site was an appropriate setting for poetry among the gravestones.  Alas, the weather failed to cooperate.  With northeast winds and rain outside, we had to move the event into the church where the program was held minus the gravestone and the cemetery setting!  The readers were all members of the Attleboro Historic Preservation Society, which hosted the event as part of its monthly meeting.  Poe’s poetry was also read by Brian Kirby, a city councilor.

Browse The Big Read calendar to find out where people are talking about Poe somewhere near you!

November 26, 2008
Washington, DC

As we work on the Reader’s Guide for Edgar Allan Poe, I’ve been thinking about how one might capture Poe’s fiction in one breath. Perhaps something like . . .

“Edgar Allan Poe’s fiction combined a boy’s fascination with all things gross and disgusting, a youth’s terrified idealization of the opposite sex, and a grown man’s guilt about never fully outgrowing either one.”

What’s your take? Let us know at bigreadblog@arts.gov.