In the January 1809 issue of the Monthly Anthology and Boston Review, published within days of Edgar Allan Poe's birth, the editors lamented the state of American literature, characterizing it as "coarse, insipid fare" and noting the absence of hard-working writers. Over the next forty years, no one did more than Poe to add spice to what could be written and imagined. And yet for two centuries Boston has largely ignored its connection to Poe, even though he was born here—not in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, or Transylvania—on January 19, 1809. It's time to seize this once-in-a-century opportunity to celebrate Boston's most influential writer. Time for Mayor Thomas M. Menino to declare January 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Month in Boston; for the city to make sure that its commemorative plaque is hanging in the right place; to put a statue of Poe on the Commons and add at least one raven to those swan boats! At BC we intend to start a wave of Poe appreciation and have heaps of fun in the process!

"BC Celebrates Poe", From the Boston Globe 11-14-08

Poe Bicentennial events in other cities

The Boston College Poe Bicentennial program is dedicated to the memory of Raymond T. McNally, professor of history at Boston College from 1958 to 2001, and sponsored by the American Studies Program, Boston College Libraries, Carroll School of Management, College of Arts and Sciences, English Department, Fine Arts Department, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Graduate Student Association, History Department, Institute for the Liberal Arts, Jesuit Institute, and the Newton College Alumnae Chair in Western Culture.

Images created by Media Technology Services, Boston College.