The great 19th-century writer Edgar Allan Poe often found his inspiration in the mysterious and macabre aspects of life and to recognize his contribution American literature, the Newburgh Free Library is leading two bone-chilling programs this week, followed by a Sunday concert that could lift your spirits back up.
The focus on Poe is all part of the county-wide Big Read, in which libraries are offering special lectures and readings that explore the man and his work.
On Monday night, local police detective and Michael Worden will discuss his cases involving the living and the dead at 7 pm at the library on Grand Street. Poe’s work often explored the connection between the living and the dead, and he is considered one of the early American detective writers.
Take a graveyard walk on Saturday.
Next Saturday, city historian Mary McTamaney will lead a walk at 2 pm through the Old Town Cemetery on Liberty Street, where the grave markers date back to the mid-18th century. At least 1,300 stones, headstones and footstones remain in the cemetery and McTamaney can be counted on to resurrect the memories of the prominent and interesting of Newburgh’s first settlers during the tour.
Lydia Adams Davis will sing Pop Music in the Time of Poe.
The spirit picks up on Sunday at 3 pm, when music of the Romantic era is brought to life by vocalist Lydia Adams Davis, keyboardist Ruthanne Schempf and violinist Emily Faxon who will be performing in a free concert, Pop Music in the Age of Poe, at the library. Adams promises to bring an actual Raven puppet as the trio plays “haunting melodic poems and songs that Edgar Allan Poe, and the beloved women in his life his mother, step-mother and wife enjoyed . Poe’s memorable verse and prose will be experienced in dramatic renditions of his works through Irish and Scottish ballads, fiddle tunes and in the Crashing Choruses of Demon Wind, The Bells and The Raven.
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