The official 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe isn't until Monday (January 19th). In my family we always seem to end up celebrating birthday week, so I thought Poe deserves the same treatment. There will no doubt be countless tributes and articles all over the blogosphere on the actual date, but here are some links and events to get you started on the countdown...
For background material, the Poe Society in Baltimore has lots of articles and chronologies, and the Biography Channel has a 5-part documentary available for viewing free online.
BBC 3 Radio has four audio essays available for a limited time on their web site, so you'd better hurry if you're going to catch them. They include Andrew Taylor (who just won the 2009 Cartier Diamond Dagger) investigating Poe's childhood in England and the inspiration behind his own bestselling novel The American Boy.
The Christian Science Monitor featured an article on the mystery surrounding Poe's death in Baltimore, quoting Laura Lippman who favors the prevailing theory: that on election day, Oct. 3, 1849, or on the day before, Poe was seized by political thugs, drugged, sated with whiskey, confined – probably in a dank basement – then dragged out and forced to vote at numerous polling places. His captors then dumped him in the gutter, and he never recovered from the resulting illness.
At least four U.S. cities (Boston, Richmond, Philadelphia, and Baltimore) lay claim to Poe, but Richmond may have one of the strongest, as not only did Poe spend one-third of his life there, but the city's Edgar Allan Poe Museum alleges to have the world's finest collection of Poe manuscripts, letters, first editions and personal belongings. In addition to exhibits, readings and other performances (Garrison Keillor on the birthday eve), there will be candlelight and segway tours and a 24-hour birthday bash at the museum. Here's another cheerleading article for Richmond-as-Poe-central.
Poe was born in Boston, so not to be outdone, Boston College had a series of lectures in honor of the date. One of the speakers was Brent Fidler, co-director, screenwriter and star of the indie film The Last Days of the Raven which you can catch in the worldwide Internet premiere on January 19th linked here.
Another of the contenders, Baltimore, houses The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, and the museum, along and the city of Baltimore has two weekends of celebrations planned, this weekend and next. Events include a tribute by actor John Astin.
Philadelphia also played a part in the Poe legacy, and the Free Library recently hosted representatives of the Boston, Baltimore, and Philly in "The Great Poe Debate" to coincide with the library's exhibition of Poe artifacts, "Quoth the Raven: A 200-Year Remembrance of the Life and Legacy of Edgar Allan Poe," on view through Feb. 13. The Washington Post also had an article about the Philly-Poe connection.
The York Daily Record has a nice roundup of many of the above events and more in the relevant cities.
In honor of the bicentennial, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp, using a Poe painting by award-winning artist Michael J. Deas, who published The Portraits and Daguerreotypes of Edgar Allan Poe, a comprehensive collection of images featuring authentic likenesses.
The Mystery Writers of America gave their 2009 Raven Award (wonder where they got the name?) to the Edgar Allan Poe Society and The Poe House in Baltimore. As current MWA President Harlan Coben indicated, the dual choice of the Poe Society and the Edgar Allan Poe House is doubly appropriate: "Not only does 2009 mark the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday, but Mystery Writers of America has long considered Poe a patron saint. In fact, the Raven Award, itself, is named after Poe's famous poem, and our Edgar® Awards -- or 'Edgars,' as they're more popularly known -- are awarded annually to authors of distinguished work." MWA also released two new anthologies in honor of Poe, which you can read about here.
The Westport Public Library has a detailed article on the Poe Bicentennial, with the first part here, with the second part, located here, taking a look at how Poe has inspired other writers and novels such as Michael Connelly’s The Poet.
So have some birthday cake and celebrate!
