The Bibliothecary

"The Byronic poets were all dash," Poe proclaimed in a defense of the dash and its encroaching replacement, the semicolon.  Paul Collins, in his piece, "Has Modern Life Killed the Semicolon?", relates how Poe complained against the oft misused point-virgule, in his "Marginalia" column in Graham's magazine.  I must agree with Poe that semicolons aren't nearly as romantic as dashes.

Nigel Beale has posted his interview with me over at Nota Bene Books.  The podcast is about a half hour long and is basically an overview of Edgar Allan Poe's life.  The audio gets better as it goes along (I think Nigel moved the microphone closer to me).  I get some of the details wrong (ages, some of the chronology) and I didn't mention Poe's time at the Southern Literary Messenger, which was an important time for him. I also am not well versed in Poe's French admirers (Baudelaire, etc).  But this is a pretty good outline of his life.  And I get to plug Philly a couple times as instrumental in Poe's development as a writer.

Joyce Carol Oates' latest book, Wild Nights!, is a collection of five short stories, each reimagining the last days of a great writer: Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and Edgar Allan Poe.  For the first story, “Poe Posthumous; or, The Light-House,” Oates has used one of his tales as a template, the unfinished "The Lighthouse," a series of journal entries by a lone keeper of a lighthouse.  Poe wrote only the first three days of the journal, from Jan 1-3, 1796, but Oates reinvents the journal beginning on Oct 7, 1849, Poe's death day, and continues it through the following year.  As expected, Poe the narrator becomes increasingly unhinged as his days of loneliness multiply.  There is even a hint early on that this story is a reverie of the dying Poe or, more likely, as suggested by the title, this journal is the doom of a nightmarish afterlife.  Oates' story has a wonderfully grotesque ending worthy of Poe's own imagination.

Especially gratifying were all the references to Philadelphia in the text.  Baltimore is mentioned only as "a city not familiar to me."  Ha!  Oates has done her homework.  At the end of Poe's life, Philadelphia would have been much more familiar to Poe than Baltimore.  And let's not forget, Poe may have been planning on moving back to Philadelphia before his sudden death in that other city. 

I've also learned that there is a collection of stories, Poe's Lighthouse, edited by Christopher Conlon and published by Cemetery Dance in 2006 (with atrocious cover art), in which 23 authors continue the narrative (or entirely reimagine it).  I haven't been able to locate a copy yet.  However, there is continuation of "The Lighthouse" by Robert Bloch which I've read in Sam Moscowitz's anthology, The Man Who Called Himself Poe.  And there is story entitled "Poe's Light House," in Richard Selzer's short story collection, Imagine a Woman and Other Tales.  I've just ordered a copy of that through my library.  Selzer's story is currently being adapted into a movie.

Nigel Beale, writer, bibliophile and broadcaster of the Canadian radio program, The Biblio File, was in town recently for the Philadelphia Book Festival and he interviewed the Philly Poe Guy about all things Poe.  Nigel also took this picture of me and my talisman, along with some other cool shots of Philly,  the true home of Edgar Allan Poe. 

I'll let you know when the interview is posted.

The George Lippard talk at the Edgar Allan Poe House went remarkably well.  We had a packed room.  Some authors showed up, too, like Gregory Frost whose first published story was about Poe, "In the Sunken Museum" (it's available in Greg's collection, Attack of the Jazz Giants).  Greg also posted about the event at his own blog.  And Cordelia Biddle was there, whose new Deception's Daughters will be out later this summer (I blogged about that here).  Nick Bucci showed up and we're definitely going to take a tour of the Wissahickon soon, so if you're interested in joining our excursion, leave a comment here or shoot me an email.  Also in attendance were NoirCon master Lou Boxer, Poeist Rob Velella, fellow Lippardian Ric Ben-Safed, Dickensian Herb Moskovitz, International Noirist Pete Rozovsky, architect Alvin Holm and, of course, my favorite Park Ranger, Helen McKenna-Uff. 

My first idea for the talk was to give an in-depth look at the relationship between Poe and Lippard, both personally and critically, but I figured that most people just don't know enough about Lippard yet, so I focused on Lippard's life and works, especially The Quaker City.  I've been invited back to give a talk on the intersections of Lippard and Poe.  I'll let you know when that will be. 

A great Q&A followed in which we got to talk about Poe, Lippard's devotion to him, Rosicrucians, Johannes Kelpius, and the Wissahickon Valley.  Most unusual question: Is spermaceti a hallucinogenic?  See my post on The Quaker City blog about my Lippardian research.

Horrors of It AllAll month, the Horrors of It All blog will be posting pre-code comics adaptations of Poe stories.  This week is a 1952 version of Pit and the Pendulum.  Garish colors.  Rats galore.  Lots of exclamation points!!!  And . . . the Spanish Inquisition!

Just a reminder that my talk on George Lippard is tomorrow, Saturday May 10 at 2PM.  Details here or at the Philly Poe House site.

Hope to see you there.

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, so I dutifully took my children to the nearest comic shop to further initiate them into the joys of comics.  One of the freebies I picked up was a Graphic Classics sampler featuring Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" (along with stories by Conan Doyle, Ambrose Bierce, Lord Dunsany and Mary Shelley).  It's a faithful adaptation by Rod Lott, illustrated in a realistic style by Gerry Alanguilan.  I have to admit I'm not very adventurous when it comes to comics--I prefer real-life representational drawing--so this adaptation was very welcome and there was just enough of the story to whet a reader's appetite for more Poe, a bit condensed, but still very much Poe. 

On Sunday, I went to the Abington Library with some crime novelist guy to see Jim Warren, the brilliant publisher of horror magazines in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.  As a boy, I was a big fan of his Famous Monsters of Filmland and couldn't wait to receive my monthly allowance money, so I

Warren, Swierczy and Philly Poe Guycould blow it all on the latest issue (my father just shook his head in bewilderment).  Warren also published Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella in magazine format (as well as many others).  I was gratified to learn that Warren grew up in the same Philadelphia neighborhood as I did and actually edited all his early magazines from home (on his dining room table).  Karen Burnham, at the library, took lots of pictures which you can see here (with captions) and many more here.  There are also video snippets of Warren talking here.  A stellar event with a stellar guy.  Warren is a joy to hear. 

Uncle Creepy introduces CaskWarren's magazines often featured Poe adaptations and a few weeks back, Golden Age Comic Book Stories Blog featured a whole week of Poe illustrations and comics, including some of Warren's.  The Golden blog is wonderful--so many great things besides the Poe week--but it's not very reader-friendly.  It's hard to search and find particular entries and they're sometimes spread out over several entries for a day.  Nevertheless, what a treasure trove.  If you click here you'll get the archive for April and if you scroll down al the Poe stuff is at the bottom. 

To make it easier for you, here are the links to Warren's Creepy and Eerie Poe adaptations.  Each image is a thumbnail, so it blows up to a readable size if you click on it:

Tell-Tale Heart, part one 

Tell-Tale Heart, part two

The Black Cat, part one

The Black Cat, part two

The Black Cat, part three

Cask of Amontillado, part one

Cask of Amontillado, part two (note how Montressor gets his comeuppance on the last page)

Can it get any better than Edgar Allan Poe and George Lippard? Together?  In Philly?

Well then, come on down to the Philly Poe House at 7th and Spring Garden Sts in the Athens of America on Saturday, May 10, 2PM. I'll be talking about that way cool gothic novelist, journalist, labor reformer, historian, Philadelphian and friend of Poe, the mighty George Lippard!

The event is free, but reservations are recommended. Just call the Poe House at (215)597-8780 to reserve a spot. 

Some folks I met at the RMWHS:

Fellow Poeist Rob Velella and the Philly Poe Guy

 

Wissahickonist Nicholas Bucci (who owns neither a TV nor a computer) and the Philly Poe Guy (who spends a lot of time with both a TV and computer)

RMWHS president Karen Sears and the Philly Poe Guy

All photos by my lovely wife, Kate