LONGFELLOW DAYS: FEBRUARY 2 - 27, 2013

Longfellow Days is Brunswick’s month-long celebration

of the great American poet, who lived here while he was a

student and, later, a faculty member at Bowdoin College.

Throughout February, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s birth month,

entertaining cultural events all over town will explore themes that

are suggested by the poet’s life and work. This year's event is titled

Longfellow & Dickens: A Transatlantic Friendship.

 

 

 

When Henry Wadsworth Longfellow first read and admired the

Pickwick Papers in 1836, a bond was formed between two

world-renowned authors. It was cemented with Charles Dickens’

first trip to the United States in 1842. Although an ocean separated

the American poet and the British novelist, they corresponded

regularly, visited each other’s homes when abroad, championed each

other’s work, and facilitated social introductions and publishing

connections. Scholars have speculated about their mutual literary influence. This series places equal

emphasis on the camaraderie and affection they shared – the sort of bond that continues to connect

writers, and connect writers with their communities, today.