BRUNSWICK

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was both a student and professor at Bowdoin College, is best known for his warmhearted and prolific poetry. However, his range and output were broader than this. It includes essays, poetic-dramatic compositions and a novel, Kavanagh, that met with mixed success – although his contemporaries Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne were said to admire it. Taking a cue from this versatility, Longfellow Days 2015 (February 1-27) showcases the writer as MORE THAN A POET.

“ Longfellow led a long and complicated life,” said Longfellow Days co-chair Amy E. Waterman. “ His writing was similarly rich and varied. This year’s theme lets us look at his forays into other literary forms and to speculate about everyday influences upon him.”

The month- long series will feature a fascinating lecture on 19th-century pastimes; a swashbuckling silent film; a special musical service at the Unitarian Universalist Church; a theatrical presentation; a historic house tour; plentiful poetry readings, including one by Maine’s outgoing Poet Laureate, Wesley McNair; and an HWL birthday celebration with Brunswick High School students among the readers.

The planning committee was curious about the forms of popular entertainment that the poet might have himself experienced or witnessed. Accordingly, on Wednesday, February 18th, Libby Bischof, Associate Professor of History and Chair, Department of History and Political Science, University of Southern Maine will present an illustrated talk on Parlor Games, Photographs, Panoramas, and Tableaux. The event, part of the Midcoast Senior College’s Winter Wisdom program, is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. at Curtis Memorial Library.

Longfellow’s more dramatic works (examples are The Courtship of Miles Standish and The Spanish Student) are less familiar today; fortunately, acting students from Bowdoin College will bring some of his verses to the stage on Thursday, February 19th. Under the direction of Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater Sally Wood, “Hollow, With a Mellow Resonant Murmur” will feature excerpts from Portland playwright Daniel Noel’s piece, Longfellow: A Life in Words.

The performance takes place in the Torrey Barn, Cram Alumni House, 83 Federal Street, at 7 p.m.

The Pejepscot Historical Society opens the doors of the Joshua Chamberlain Museum on February 7th at noon for a tour that will include the rooms in which Longfellow once lived.

Silent film screenings have been a popular feature of Longfellow Days through its eleven-year history, especially for family outings. Another is planned for Saturday, February 14th. Although Longfellow did not write The Three Musketeers, he would have been familiar with the novel by Alexandre Dumas, père that inspired Douglas Fairbanks’ 1921 swashbuckler. The screening takes place at 1 p.m. in Smith Auditorium, Sills Hall at Bowdoin, with commentary by Tricia Welsch, Professor of Film Studies, and lively piano accompaniment by Doug Protsik. A more direct Longfellow connection will be made with a surprise animated short.

The plentiful poetry portion of the Longfellow homage encompasses poetry workshops in local schools, poetry-sharing at The Highlands and Thornton Oaks retirement communities, and four readings by a total of twelve talented local poets.

The four “Coursen Readings,” named for the late poet, Shakespeare scholar, and Longfellow Days friend Herbert R. Coursen, are scheduled for February 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd, all at1 p.m. in the Fireplace Room at Curtis Memorial Library. On the docket are, respectively,

Bob MacLaughlin, David Moreau, and Elizabeth Tibbetts; Ted Bookey, Frank Giampietro, and Claire Hersom; Charles Brown, Helene McGlauflin, and Gary Rainford (these three all recipients of “The Joy of the Pen” poetry awards sponsored by the Topsham Public Library last year); and Christian Barter, Gibson Fay LeBlanc, and Robin Merrill. The fire will be glowing, and refreshments will be served.

At an “Afternoon with the Poet Laureate” (Saturday, February 21 at 3 p.m.), Wesley McNair honors Brunswick and Longfellow Days with a major reading from his most recent collection, The Lost Child. The volume was inspired by the impending death of McNair’s mother and explores her Ozarks homeplace. More uplifting than mournful, this gathering will also feature a question and answer period and a book signing. The Quotable Longfellow, published this year and with an introduction by Mr. McNair, will also be available for purchase.

As the series draws to a close, a literary themed Chapel Service and Concert will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday, February 22rd at 10 a.m., featuring choral settings of the poet’s writings by local composer Stuart Gillespie; and, on the afternoon of Friday, February 28th, a party celebrating Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on his 208th birthday will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church, featuring Brunswick High drama students and poets of all ages.

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