Celebrate Poetry Month by reading or listening to poetry. The following titles are available in the library.
A Century of recorded Poetry (CD)
Complete stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe
The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998
The Oxford anthology of African-American poetry
Excerpt- Ah broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever! Let the bell toll!--a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river; And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear?--weep now or never more! See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore! Come! let the burial rite be read--the funeral song be sung!-- An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young-- A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young. Lenore by Edgar Allan Poe
October is an exciting time of the year when the world is teeming with ghastly, ghostly tales of terror and fright. All of this is done in recognition of “All Hallows Eve” or Halloween for short. It is a time for people to immerse themselves in the unknown through urban legends, ghoulish festivities, or deeply seeded traditions rooted in ancient beliefs. It is a frightfully, fiendish time of the year where children love to don scary costumes and spend the evening carving pumpkins.
Over the years, Halloween has gained an enormous amount of popularity. Not so scary is the revelation that Americans spend nearly six billion dollars annually for Halloween related festivities. According to data published by the National Retail Federation, the average person celebrating Halloween will shell out $72.31 on decorations, costumes, and candy. That’s a pretty sweet treat if you are in the retail business! If you’re looking for a more economical way to spend Halloween, try spending the evening reading a “spooky” tale or sharing a few “spooky” poems. Reading a good story is one way to experience all of the excitement of Halloween without ever leaving your room.
If you need a few recommendations on good books to help set your holiday mood, stop by the reference desk and explore what’s available in your PSC Library.
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Halloween approaches. Time for pumpkin carving, costume making, scary movies, and more candy than you can ever eat in one night (though many try). In the literary world, there are many dark, spooky stories that will help add to the spirit of the day. In particular the works of Edgar Allan Poe, master of the macabre.
Edgar Poe was the 2nd son of two actors. At two years old, after the departure of his father and death of his mother, Poe became the foster-child of John Allan. Though Allan never adopted him, Poe chose to take Allan as his middle name. After these early tragedies life continued to be turbulent for Poe. He quarreled with his foster-father over money and his chosen vocation, and was eventually kicked out of the University of Virginia because of gambling debts. Later, he was court martialed and kick out of West Point. His love life was also difficult, his first love married another, and his second love and wife, Virginia Clem, died after a long illness. Fear of poverty and the loss of his wife lead Poe to drink excessively, which some argue ultimately led to his death.
Poe’s diverse body of work includes poetry, criticism, short stories, dark love stories, and the invention of the detective novel. Many people are familiar with The Raven, which has made it’s way into popular culture through television shows like The Simpsons and Gilmore Girls, and The Tell-Tale Heart, the story of a man haunted by the beating heart of his murder victim. Other important achievements include The Murders in the Rue Morgue (the first detective novel), the development of the short story genre, and considerable contribution to science fiction.
Come check out the Halloween Book Display in the library. In addition to some great works by Poe, we have detective novels, thrillers, horror stories, vampire tales, and spooky short stories. Or if you would like to check out some more Halloween tales check out last year’s post The Origins of Halloween: Terror on Display at the Library.
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Pioneers 