LONGFELLOW DAYS 2025
200th Anniversary of Bowdoin's Class of 1825

Longfellow Days joins Bowdoin College in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the notable Graduating Class of 1825, a group of accomplished writers including: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jonathan Cilley, and other statesmen, lawyers, and  professionals who collectively brought the College a considerable amount of fame. 

Sunday, February 2, 1:00 PM 

SUNDAY READINGS, Part One: 1825 Poets & Writers

Fireplace Room, Curtis Memorial Library

First, an homage to 19th-century poets, with three contemporary Maine writers – Gary Lawless, Kara Douglas & Linda Aldrich – reading from Longfellow, Hawthorne, & Emily Dickinson, respectively, as well as sharing their own work.

Thursday, February 6,  ​4:30 pm 

TALK BY NICHOLAS BASBANES 

 Kresge Hall at Bowdoin College

“Meeting of the Minds: Longfellow, Hawthorne, and the Productive Influence of their Artistic Wives”​

Nicholas Basbanes is the third Longfellow biographer to speak in Brunswick during Longfellow Days.  Both Charles Calhoun (Longfellow: A Rediscoverd Life) and Christoph Irmscher (Longfellow Redux) were here to celebrate Longfellow’s 200th birthday in 2007.

The focus of Basbanes’ talk offers a unique historical appreciation for the importance of Longfellow’s and Hawthorne’s respective family backgrounds, education, and marriages within these classmates’ lives - both as students and throughout their careers.

A National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar, Nicholas A. Basbanes is the author of ten works of nonfiction, including A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books, a finalist in 1996 for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction, and On Paper: The Everything of its 2,000-Year History, one of three finalists in 2014 for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

His most recent book, Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was awarded “top honors” in nonfiction in 2020 for the Massachusetts Book Award given annually by the Massachusetts Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress, and was named a book of the year by the Times Literary Supplement (London) and the Christian Science Monitor.

A work-in-progress, Before Paper: Unlocking the World’s Earliest Writings, is under contract with Yale University Press. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, Humanities, Smithsonian, Civilization and The Book Collector. For the past eight years, he has been writing signed biographical sketches of the principal correspondents of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning for The Brownings’s Correspondence, a publishing initiative of Wedgestone Press funded principally since its inception in 1964 by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and now in its 31th volume. He also writes the Gently Mad column for Fine Books & Collections, a quarterly publication, and lectures widely on book-related subjects. He and his wife Constance live in Massachusetts.

Sunday, February 9, 1:00 PM 

SUNDAY READINGS, Part Two: 1925 Poets and Writers

Fireplace Room, Curtis Memorial Library

In 1925, for the 100th anniversary of the Class of 1825, Bowdoin invited to Brunswick numerous leading poets & writers of the period for an impressive literary festival. In similar fashion, three poets of today help us look back a century, as well as sharing their own poetry. Gibson Fay LeBlanc reads Robert Frost, Dawn Potter reads Edna St. Vincent Millay, & Mike Bove reads Langston Hughes.

Tuesday, February 11, 11 am

EKPHRASTIC POETRY WORKSHOP by David Sloan 

Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Zucker Seminar Room

Poet As Painter

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

The “cross-pollination” between the visual and literary arts has long been a celebrated dynamic.  Ekphrastic poetry is writing inspired by visual art.  It’s one way of responding to a painting, sculpture, or other art form.  In this workshop, we will spend the first segment looking at examples of ekphrastic works and the creative options that such pairings can kindle.  Then participants will have the opportunity of touring the extensive collection housed in Bowdoin’s Museum of Art, including “Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow and American Visual Culture 1840-1880,” and selecting one painting, sculpture, artifact or photo to begin crafting a poem.  After reconvening, participants will be invited to share any fragments of writing they will have generated. 

The workshop is free and open to all levels, from high school students to established writers.
To register for this workshop, email longfellowdays@gmail.com.

David Sloan Biography

 Wednesday, Feb 12, ​2-3 pm​

COMMUNITY POETRY/OPEN MIC  

Merrymeeting Room, Thornton Oaks, 25 Thornton Way (off Baribeau Drive) 

Local poets Helene McGlauflin and David Sloan share their own writing and host this informal verse-sharing session for the community. Bring your own poems or your favorites written by others. Refreshments.

Thursday, Feb 13, ​2:30-3:30 pm​

COMMUNITY POETRY/OPEN MIC  

Georgetown Parlor, Maine Lodge, The Highlands, 30 Governors Way, Topsham

Local poets Helene McGlauflin and David Sloan share their own writing and host this informal verse-sharing session for the community. Bring your own poems or your favorites written by others. Refreshments.

Saturday, Feb 15, ​11 am & 1 pm​ 

TWO TOURS OF THE JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN HOUSE

226 Maine Street, Brunswick

These special 70-minute tours of the Joshua L. Chamberlain Museum will be led by Gemma Cannon,  author of Voices of the Night.  Gemma has discovered material about Henry’s first wife, Mary, and more than we ever knew about Henry’s early writing when the Longfellows lived at the historic home before the Chamberlains.

Each tour is limited to 15 people.

Advance Registration is Required:  Send an email with subject “LD House Tour” to info@pejepscothistorical.org. Please include preferred time, name(s) of registrants, and phone number for primary contact.

Gemma Cannon, a graduate from Holy Cross College and Columbia University School of Social Work, received the Nautilus Book Award in the category of Death & Dying/Grief & Loss for Voices of the Night.

In her award-winning book, she combines wisdom from Longfellow with lessons from her social work clients.  They taught her that, whether homeless in Times Square or a world-class poet and writer, we're not always fortunate, and we all need inner strength and hope to survive a crisis.

She lives with her family near Longfellow's boyhood home in Portland, Maine, "the beautiful city by the sea."

Sunday, February 16, 1:00 PM 

SUNDAY READINGS, Part Three: 2025 Tribute to Poets and Writers

Fireplace Room, Curtis Memorial Library

More than 120 Maine poets have participated in Longfellow Days’ Sunday Readings.  Today we remember three who departed in 2024: Sally Cowperthwaite reads poetry by her father Steve Cowperthwaite.  Georgia Nigro reads work by her late husband Rob Farnsworth. Maryli Tiemann reads poetry by Ruth Bookey. 

Then Maryli Tiemann introduces Nicole Chvatal, reading her own work.

Wednesday, February 19, ​1 pm

WINTER WISDOM WITH JAMES McKENNA​​​

Morrell Room, Curtis Memorial Library

“My Two Grandmothers” differing poetic tastes

Our events this year celebrate the Bowdoin Class of 1825, which had among its grads, our Henry AND Nathaniel Hawthorne. Bowdoin honored this class again at the centennial in 1925, hosting a special gathering of literary poets and authors, with such notables as:  Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, Willa Cather, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.  Imagine the streets of Brunswick with these writers, and many others walking among our ancestors.

So, here we are at the 200th anniversary of this class where Maine poet, James McKenna will share his personal introductions to Longfellow and Edna Saint Vincent Millay.

Our time with James offers a unique gathering of the centuries:  1825, 1925, and 2025.

My Two Grandmothers Loved Two Different Maine Poets. And Why.

“One grandmother was from Pittsburgh, was wealthy, and graduated from college. She loved the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

The other grandmother was from Poughkeepsie, left school after the sixth grade, and was a maid. She loved the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.” 

James McKenna Biography

Friday, February 21​​, 7:30 pm

​POETRY WITH TAYLOR MALI 

 Studzinski Hall at Bowdoin CollegeTaylor Mali, nationally recognized spoken word poet, returns to Bowdoin from which he graduated in 1987.  Mali will perform an evening of poetry with three current Bowdoin student poets - King Weatherspoon, Chayma Charifi and Kaitlin Weiss - as the opening act.

This legacy of poetry is part of the 2025 tribute to the Class of 1825, which included poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and author Nathaniel Hawthorne. These two literary giants forged an international appreciation for American literature and were “rockstars” of their century.

In 1925, for the 100th celebration of their class, Bowdoin held a Literary Festival, inviting such notable poets and writers as Robert Frost, Edna St.Vincent Millay, Carl Sandburg, and Willa Cather, among others.  This year expands this tradition to herald the power of poetry in the 21st Century with this spoken word performance.

Joe Anderson, Bowdoin Director of Campus Services and Events, will host as Master of Ceremonies.

Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series “Def Poetry Jam.” A four-time National Poetry Slam champion, he is the author of four collections of poetry and a chapbook, The Whetting Stone, which won the 2017 Rattle Chapbook Prize. He is the author of the acclaimed nonfiction book, What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World. In April of 2012, Mali donated 12 inches of his hair to the American Cancer Society Mali after convincing 1,000 people to become teachers. He lives in Brooklyn where he curates the Page Meets Stage reading series at the Bowery Poetry Club. 

Saturday, February 22​, 7:30 pm

TRIBUTE TO CLASS OF 1825: EVENING OF MUSIC & POETRY 

​Studzinski Hall at Bowdoin College

Longfellow’s poetry set to music and voice, featuring compositions by Paul Sullivan, Stuart Gillespie, Ann MacDonald Diers, Jud Caswell, and Scott Woodruff. Performed by the combined Bowdoin Chamber Choir with chorus members from area community choirs.  Directed by Stuart Gillespie and Will Bristol. In addition, spoken word poet, Taylor Mali will perform in tribute to the Class of 1825!  And Brunswick community members will participate in readings of the poems orchestrated.

Paul Sullivan is an American Grammy Award winning pianist and composer whose music blends jazz and classical styles. He is a member of the Paul Winter Consort and has performed with some legendary orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Pops.  Sullivan has worked in some of New York’s most prestigious jazz clubs as well.  In the theater world, he has worked as a Musical Director, pianist, and/or conductor for many Off-Broadway and Broadway shows.

Ann MacDonald Diers (1925-2019) received a BA from the Hartt School of Music and an MA from Columbia University. Composing music was one of her driving passions, whether for chorus, children or as a soloist. Several of her pieces have been published and her anthem “Hold Your Hands Out Over the Earth” won first place in a national competition.

Stuart Gillespie retired in 2004 as Director of Choral Ensembles and Fine Arts Department Chair at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut. He began his choral directing career in 1965 as a baritone with the US Army Chorus in Europe. He is a published composer and has written many choral arrangements for the MSC Singers.

One of the leading singer-songwriters on the current scene, Jud Caswell is a master multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, banjo, cittern, whistles and Irish drums.  Jud’s originals have won some of the most prestigious songwriting contests in the country, including the legendary Kerrville New Folk competition. His songs have been taught at Berklee, recorded by Judy Collins, and named “#4 Song of the Decade” by New York’s WFUV.

Scott Woodruff is a talented Midcoast Maine musician, sound engineer, and host of open mics.  He enjoys mixing it up as a solo artist and band member with such bands as Leopard Girls.  He has produced a CD, Them Old Bones, which is a collection of his songs written about his life experiences.

Bowdoin’s Chamber Choir is a vocal ensemble which delves into a wide variety of music from different genres and time periods. Singers in Chamber Choir work on developing healthy singing practices within the context of ensemble singing. The ensemble aims to be a place for singing together joyfully while also stretching themselves as musicians and artists. 

Taylor Mali, 1987 graduate of Bowdoin college, is an accomplished slam poet, humorist, author and educator.  He is one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series “Def Poetry Jam.” A four-time National Poetry Slam champion, he is the author of four collections of poetry and a chapbook, The Whetting Stone, which won the 2017 Rattle Chapbook Prize. He is the author of the acclaimed nonfiction book, What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World.  

Sunday, February 23, 10:00 AM

INTERFAITH SERVICE

​​​​​Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Middle Street

A service led by Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos, Minister with Maryli Tiemann and music by the UUCB Choir under the direction of Will Bristol

The Inclusive Power of Poetry

Longfellow Days’ interfaith service will explore poetry's power to open hearts and minds to our inner selves, as well as to those unlike us in some way. Poetry has historically been an art that, among other things, expands empathy, connects us with the heart of human experiences, and has the potential to build a more inclusive and just community and world.

Visit the Bible Longfellow signed and donated to his church in 1878.

Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos is an ordained minister with over 20 years of professional experience in pastoral ministry and denominational leadership.  Rev. Amos holds plural ministerial standing in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) where she was granted full fellowship in 2024, as well as the Metropolitan Community Churches where she was originally ordained in 2002. She is a preacher, activist, writer, singer, educator, fundraiser, and administrator with a passion for engaging others who are committed to spiritual growth, inclusive community, and social justice.

Maryli Tiemann is an educator and writer of essays and poems as well as reflections for area UU church services.  She helped to create Longfellow Days, and with the support and talents of Maine’s poets and fans of poetry, has continued to shepherd it over 21 years.

Sunday, February 23, 1:00 PM

SUNDAY READINGS, Part Four: Future Poets & Writers

Fireplace Room, Curtis Memorial Library

While spanning the centuries, this final entry in our readings honors & nurtures younger Maine poets’ writing and performance in 2025.  Poet John Reinhart emcees readings by three poets who were part of the Portland Poetry Slam Team: Elle Warren, Yashu Derisala, & Alex Wu from Portland's Port Veritas Slam Team which is coached by former Portland Poet Laureate Maya Williams.

John Reinhart is an arsonist by trade, writing with ashes by candlelight. The recipient of the Horror Writers Association Dark Poetry Scholarship and a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, he is the author of nine collections of poetry ranging from heartfelt to heartwrenching to robots in space with no hearts. Find out what he is up to at http://home.hampshire.edu/~jcr00/reinhart.html

Tuesday, February 25​, 2 pm​​

Interpreting Three Poems ​​​​

Pejepscot History Center. 159 Park Row

Join Karin Dillman to discuss three 19th & 20th Century poems by Dickinson, Whitman, and Wm. Carlos Williams, poets as different from one another than as we are from them now.  We will focus on the differences and share how each poem speaks to us as 21st century readers.   Are their poems still relevant to us today?

Poems:
Dickinson, "Exultation is the going"
Whitman, "Dalliance of the Eagles"
Wm. Carlos Williams, "Red Wheelbarrow"

Refreshments will be available.

Karin Dillman is a poet, artist, and academic.   In the 80s and 90s, she taught French Literature at Bowdoin and also taught in Maine State Prison.  During that time and since, she has developed her skills and interest in non-traditional book-binding, as well as words expressed as art pieces.

Advance Registration is Required:  To reserve a space, please send an email with subject “Interpreting Three Poems” to info@pejepscothistorical.org. Please include name(s) of registrants, and phone number for primary contact. (limit 20 participants)

Wednesday, February 26, ​12 pm

Gallery Tours​​​​​​: Bowdoin College Museum of Art & Library 

Tour Bowdoin’s two special exhibitions: "Poetic Truths" at the Art Museum and "Before They Were Famous" at the Library.
​Tours will meet at NOON in the lobby at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.

Art Exhibit at the Museum of Art

“Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow, and American Visual Culture, 1840-1880”

Members of Bowdoin College’s Class of 1825, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow created some of the most popular literary works in nineteenth-century America. In response to Hawthorne's novels and Longfellow's poetry, artists created many remarkable paintings, sculpture, and prints. Conversely, the authors drew inspiration from art and objects of all ages, often using them as narrative devices. This exhibition explores how the two authors and their compelling stories influenced American visual culture during this period. Poetic Truths features artworks inspired by Hawthorne's novels, The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851), and The Marble Faun: or, the Romance of Monte Beni (1860) and Longfellow's epic poems Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie (1847), and The Song of Hiawatha (1855).

Please Note:  The Library requires a Bowdoin ID after 5pm

More information about the Poetic Truth exhibit

Bowdoin Library Exhibit

"Before They Were Famous: The Student Days of the Class of 1825"

The show will be on view in the second floor of the Library from January 27-June 6, 2025.

Thirty-seven students graduated from Bowdoin College on September 7, 1825, the College’s twentieth commencement. Among them were future Congressmen, a U.S. Senator, numerous state politicians, the President of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, a U.S. Marshall, the uncle by marriage to Emily Dickinson, a fiery, famous abolitionist and temperance minister who was jailed for his beliefs, and two of America's foremost authors: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Long described as Bowdon’s most famous class, it is easy to forget that at Bowdoin they were just boys learning to navigate the world. This exhibit, in celebration of the class’s 200th anniversary, explores the college days, from academics to pranks, of the illustrious class. Meet the Class of 1825, before they were famous!

In terms of Longfellow materials, the items on view will include his silhouette, a letter to his sister while he was a student, the key he used for his apartment on Federal, some of his textbooks, the catalogue he and a few others prepared for the Peucinian society, a photograph of him from ca. 1875, around the time he returned to Bowdoin to deliver Morituri Salutamus, and a letter with classmate David Shepley reflecting on that experience.  There are also plenty of other materials that directly relate to him.

Complete list of the exhibit items

Friday, February 28, 5:30 PM

OPEN MIC & LONGFELLOW'S 218th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Middle Street

Open Mic and birthday party, with host Ren Bernier, a cappella music by Bowdoin’s “Longfellows”, and CAKE.

We encourage you to add your voice. Come share your poem or another’s that you appreciate.

Visit the Bible Longfellow signed and donated to his church in 1878.

Ongoing poetry & Bowdoin events:

•  “Poetry Across Maine” -- a statewide poetry mapping project – add your poetry to place, www.poetryacrossmaine.com, a project created by John Reinhart
  
  
• “ Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow, and American Visual Culture, 1840-1880,” on view February 6 through July 20, 2025 at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Markell Gallery. See details.
  Hours:  Tuesday 10-5, Thursday 10-8:30, Sunday 1-5
  
  
• “Before They Were Famous: The Student Days of the Class of 1825,” on view January 27 through June 6, 2025 at the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, Bowdoin College   See details.
  Hours M-F 8:30-5

Longfellow Days is an annual month-long cultural and community program, with support from Bowdoin College, Brunswick Downtown Association, Curtis Memorial Library, Nathaniel Davis Fund, Pejepscot History Center, The Senter Fund, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE.

Questions? Write to us at longfellowdays@gmail.com