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A statue of native son Edgar Allan Poe was dedicated in Boston on Oct. 5, the culmination of Poe-related festivities and years of campaigning by Professor of English Paul Lewis to bring the author to a permanent place of prominence in the city of his birth.
The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston – chaired by Lewis — unveiled sculptor Stefanie Rocknak’s work, “Poe Returning to Boston,” on a sunny afternoon in Edgar Allan Poe Square at the intersection of Boylston Street and Charles Street South, an area designated in 2009 by former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, at Lewis’ urging.
“The Rocknak sculpture allows Boston to celebrate a native writer whose work is admired and enjoyed here and around the world,” Lewis said. “The story of Poe’s engagement with Boston writers and editors, whom he called ‘Frogpondians,’ is a fascinating and important part of America’s literary history.”
Rocknak describes the statue — which memorializes Poe’s connections to Boston — as “a life-size figure in bronze, approximately 5-foot-8. Just off the train, Poe is walking south towards his place of birth. With a trunk full of ideas — and worldwide success — he is finally coming home.”
In addition to celebrating Rocknak’s work, said Lewis, “the unveiling events allowed us finally to share a new sense of Poe’s relation to Boston in an enduring way.
“About 400 people attended the pre-dedication program at the Boston Park Plaza hotel to welcome Poe back,” he noted. “Hundreds turned up for the unveiling later that afternoon in Poe Square. I stayed around for about an hour, then went off with my family for coffee. When I crossed back through the square an hour later, dozens of people were still there, taking pictures of themselves with Poe and loving the statue. [It] made my tell-tale heart beat just a little faster and brought a smile to my face.”
A staunch Poe-Boston proponent who has spearheaded a campaign to have the city reclaim Poe, Lewis has led various efforts in cementing the author’s ties to the Hub: a Poe bicentennial celebration on campus and throughout the city; a Boston Public Library exhibition, which he curated with BC student assistance, to shed light on Poe’s relationship with his birthplace, and the creation of a map of Boston which identifies places “with Poe-rich connections” associated with his life and work here – an area where Lewis leads popular walking tours.
“Boston is home to many artists, and their work is vital to our culture,” Mayor Marty Walsh had said prior to the dedication. “I’m pleased that Edgar Allan Poe is being honored in the heart of his hometown — his writings continue to inspire the art community, philosophers, and modern literary works.”
The program prior to the statue dedication featured readings, remarks and original musical settings of Poe poems. In addition to Lewis and Rocknak, participants were WBUR arts reporter Andrea Shea, authors Matthew Pearl (The Poe Shadow) and Pulitzer Prize winner Megan Marshall, composer Mary Bichner and the Planetary Quartet, Boston Art Commission Director Karin Goodfellow, Poe Studies Association President Philip E. Phillips, University of Massachusetts Professor Nadia Nurhussein, actor Stephen Walling and independent scholar Rob Velella.
The dedication ceremony for the statue – which is part of Boston’s new Literary Cultural District, the first of its kind in the US – featured comments by former US poet laureate Robert Pinsky, and a representative of Walsh’s office.
For more details on the project, its background and supporters, see www.bostonpoe.org.