On Poe's 200th anniversary
Happy birthday, Edgar! Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the great writer who for a time called Baltimore home. Some call him America’s first literary critic. Some say he wrote the first detective story (and established sleuthing characteristics made famous by Sherlock Holmes). Some credit him with creating the horror genre.
We've put together a photo gallery of his Baltimore connections. And we asked authors, scholars and others to describe Poe’s influence on them — and on the world. What was the source of his genius? Why do his works seem so timeless? We’ll publish these guest posts all week on Read Street. Actor John Astin, who is featured in Poe tribute shows at Westminster Hall, will weigh in. So will author Marilynne Robinson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Gilead. Some excerpts:
Robinson: Poe made me think about words. Which is the loveliest word, the loveliest letter? I believe I may have known that these are the kinds of almost idle questions one poses to oneself when a night seems to be unending, when the weight of sorrow is so great as to be dangerous.
Stuart Kaminsky, a grand master of the Mystery Writers of America: Things we know about Poe and often say and hear include the assertion that, in his forty years of life, he created the short story, the detective story, the modern horror story. As far as I am concerned, it does not matter if he was first or if he created any literary genre. What matters is that he had the power to send me into a near syncope with his stories and poetry.
Charles and Caroline Todd (A Matter of Justice): I think if Charles and I had to pin down books that sparked our creative instincts as youngsters, it was Poe’s "Gold Bug" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"/ "The Purloined Letter," Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and Conan-Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Why? Because they speak to a child’s imagination and these are the stories that set your tastes in reading early on. Stories that are exciting and suspenseful and a feast for a young reader just discovering the magic of words on a page.
To read the complete posts — and see many more — come back to Read Street. We’ll feature Poe all week — including The Sun’s 1849 front-page article on his death. Four measly sentences!
Comments
Thanks for the thoughtful Poe post! findingDulcinea.com has also been celebrating Poe. Here's our blog post in honor of Poe's birthday, which features a few little-know Poe facts, images of Poe, and discusses the various theories surrounding Poe's death:
http://americanfiction.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/nea-reports-increase-in-number-of-people-who-want-to-say-they-enjoy-reading-books/#comment-909
Enjoy!
Posted by: Sarah | January 18, 2009 1:18 PM
I memorized Annabel Lee, all of it, after I dipped my toe into the first verse. I do tours of Baltimore, and while on a motor coach, passing Poe's grave, I spontaneously recited what I could recall from high school, 4 lines, maybe 6. Then I stopped, since I knew no more, and I realized that wasn't good enough, people on the bus seemed to be waiting, I could sense a pregnant pause, and I was silent, I could not continue.
I got a copy of the poem and put it in the car and for weeks, I worked on memorizing that poem, line by line, at red lights, until I knew it all. Then one day I recited it on a bus tour at Poe's grave, and the bus got filled with breathless silence. When I was done, the silence would not go away. No one said a word, the driver didn't move from the spot where he'd pulled the bus over, and I knew something had happened. What was it?
Another time I was asked to teach a course at UMBC, to a varied audience of students, faculty and staff, on the art of professional tour guiding, and I pondered how to bring this diverse group together, so they would "get" what it takes to mesmerize an audience, to hold them captive, and so I tried Annabel Lee. Without an explanation, I stood in front of the class, and said: "Annabel Lee by Edgar A. Poe." I can tell you the moment when I had that audience in the palm of my hand, and in the eerie silence that followed, I said: "Gotcha!" with my palm up and outstretched. And I asked what had happened, had anyone's mind wandered to other thoughts, chores, feelings? or had I got everyone centered, listening, together, captured, mesmerized. I then described how vital it is for a tour guide -whose goal is to educate and entertain- to get to and hold the minds and emotions of her audience, first. Instead of just teaching, preaching and telling them what to do, I showed them, by doing it. I've often thought about the 26 letters in the alphabet, we all have them to play with, I am using them now, but what artistry to shape them into poems like Annabel Lee.
Posted by: Zippy Larson | January 18, 2009 1:18 PM