The Farnsworth Art Museum has been celebrating local-girl Millay for years. Born in Rockland in 1892, and raised (if that can even be said of this quirky, independent soul) in Camden, Edna St. Vincent Millay was the mover and shaker of the word world at a time and in a way that wasn’t part of a woman’s story.
These celebratory events have been fabulous. Mostly because poet Kathleen Ellis drives the train and organizes the program, chooses readers, shapes the focus, and designs the poster, then sends out the word. She’s a dynamo. I am grateful for her in my life.
Some years I have been asked to read; others not. I attend, no matter, because it’s always a great time with interesting readers and info.
I had forgotten that I read for a Millay event in Camden a few years ago, at the Whitehall, until I stumbled on this photo. It was intended as a real party. Kathleen had put together a series of readings over that summer.
Vincent, as she was known, was discovered at the Whitehall in 1912, when she attended a party and recited her poem “Renascence,” which had been recognized in a national competition/publication. That evening, one of the hotel’s guests, an arts patron, was so impressed that she supported Vincent’s education, which was not part of her life plan until then. And off she went into the world, being her unique, indomitable self.
At this year’s birthday event, we’ll gather on Zoom (surprise!) and it will be a far less boisterous event, not able to witness real faces in real time, to visit and touch, maybe go out for a drink afterwards. The theme is BALANCING GRIEF & RENEWAL. Each of the readers has been asked to select a poem by Millay to read, and then one of their own that speaks to these pandemic times balancing grief and renewal.
I am reading a new poem, “Isolation Assignment,” written in these last months. A poem I didn’t know I needed to write and probably wouldn’t have except for Kathleen’s call. It will be published in a forthcoming anthology.
Since this morning, everything is framed for me in the words of Paris Davis, an eighty-plus-year-old veteran, denied an award and recognition decades ago, and I feel compelled to share them: “Life suddens upon you. Every day, something comes up that you don’t expect…I’m not a victim of anything. The other night, I tried to write down the things I’m a victim of. I couldn’t think of a thing.”
We will read in the order in which we are listed on the poster (partly shown below; its tippiness, a result of my taking a photo on-screen, not the designer’s eye). As you can see, there’s great company here. Join us for the hour if you are so moved. Here’s the link to the museum for more info and to register.
