One biography each year is awarded a Pulitzer Prize, but these character studies wouldn't count - each is a Pulitzer-winning work of fiction, with portions based on one person's real life story. All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty".
A round table discussion facilitated by Dr. Alan Berolzheimer, Project Historian and Assistant Director at The Flow of History, will lead conversation centered on the human experience explored in The Most Costly Journey.
Bring a friend or family member to share a short story about finding yourself in new places or situation. Your story will be edited by teens and shared with the wider community as part of our 2023 Vermont Reads Programming about "The Most Costly Journey." Prompts and easy-to-follow instructions will be available, along with help from a youth librarian.
This series invites readers to learn more about Robert Frost's life and the diversity of his writings. Robert Frost is commonly regarded as America's greatest poet. Among his many honors are four Pulitzer Prizes and an appointment as Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress.
The First Amendment prevents Congress from passing any laws that abridge the freedom of speech. But what does that actually mean? Professor Meg Mott considers the history of speech laws in the United States, how states and municipalities have tried to curb offensive speech, and how the Supreme Court has ruled on those efforts.
Through Whitman’s poetry and letters, actor Stephen Collins helps us experience the poet’s growth into a mature artist who is at peace about “himself, God and death.”
National Book Award finalist Kekla Magoon discusses her award-winning nonfiction book, Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People. The Vermont author also considers the importance of reading as a tool for social change, and our individual and collective power to transform our communities.
Jolivette Anderson-Douoning shares the lived experience of Mrs. Goldleana, whose story illuminates the role Black women played as laborers in the Louisiana cotton and timber industries—and in their own families—in the 1940s and 50s. She also highlights geographical differences in Black migration: some left the South while others remained.
Poet Keiselim (Keysi) Montás discusses how to read the traditional Japanese poetic form of haiku, illustrated with works from his haiku collection, Like Water.
*New Location* Selected by President Obama as the fifth inaugural poet in US history, Richard Blanco is the first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in such a role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami, the negotiation of cultural identity characterizes his four collections of poetry. Due to the space of the new location, seating is limited for the event.
Join us for "The Line Becomes a River" by Francisco Cantu book discussion at the Bugbee Senior Center. We will also be looking at 'The Most Costly Journey."
In this free live-streamed presentation for Vermont middle and high school students, poet Richard Blanco reads from and discusses his work.
Selected by President Obama as the fifth inaugural poet in US history, Blanco is the first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in such a role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami, the negotiation of cultural identity characterizes his four collections of poetry.
Award winning children’s book illustrator guides a behind the scenes look into his studio and step-by-step process of creating his illustrations. James shares the tools, including vintage photographs, paints, palettes, friends, and family that are essential to his craft, while revealing the ins and outs, ups and downs of creating artwork for children's books.
Middlebury College professor Kemi Fuentes-George traces the development of pan-African political theory in the early 20th century and discusses how Afro Caribbean “rebel music” helped these ideas challenge established assumptions about nonwhite people and global relations.
Disability, as part of the human condition, has always been with us. But considering disability to be negative is a new concept, shaped by recent history. Professor of philosophy, author, and disability activist Patrick Standen unravels the complicated, fascinating, and controversial history of the concept of disability.
Come join in an interesting and informative community book discussion of The Most Costly Journey, a Vermont Reads book drawn by New England cartoonists.
In this interactive speaking event Vermont’s leading non-profit group fighting for farmworkers rights, Migrant Justice, will discuss the Milk With Dignity campaign. Migrant Justice will be giving an informational talk about the campaign while providing attendees functional tools and call to actions for supporting the rights of Vermont’s migrant farmworker population.
Dr. Jack Mayer tells the story of Irena Sendler, a holocaust hero who rescued 2,500 children from the Warsaw ghetto. Sendler’s story remained unknown after the war—until three Kansas teens uncovered a reference to her heroism 60 years later.
Voices of Inclusion in Essex and Westford (VIEW), Migrant Justice, Phoenix Books, and Essex Free Library present this opportunity to gather in community and discuss The Most Costly Journey. We will discuss the book and receive a presentation from members of Migrant Justice as part of their Milk with Dignity Campaign to learn more about the rampant abuses that workers face on dairy farms and the powerful organizing they are doing to improve conditions and protect their rights.
One biography each year is awarded a Pulitzer Prize, but these character studies wouldn't count - each is a Pulitzer-winning work of fiction, with portions based on one person's real life story. Wallace Stegner's Pultizer Prize-winning novel Angle of Repose is a story of discovery—personal, historical, and geographical.
“Finding Jesse: A Fugitive from Slavery in Vermont” traces Jesse’s life from enslavement in North Carolina to freedom in Vermont. His story is told through letters in the collection at Rokeby Museum and documents at the North Carolina State Archives. The illustrated talk brings the narrative of one slave out of anonymity and explores his life and pursuit of freedom.
Andy Kolovos of the Vermont Folklife Center will be speaking at North Hero Public Library on The Most Costly Journey: Latin American Migrant Workers, Health Care, and Collaborative Non Fiction Comics.
In the past fifty years, a magical loosening of “poetry” has opened doors for reluctant readers, and the performance of poems in “poetry slams” has attracted new audiences. The assumption of sing-song or anticipation of hidden metaphors no longer applies.
In this informal talk, slam poet Geof Hewitt will offer poems that defy stereotype, and discuss strategies for finding more.
One biography each year is awarded a Pulitzer Prize, but these character studies wouldn't count - each is a Pulitzer-winning work of fiction, with portions based on one person's real life story. Acclaimed author Geraldine Brooks gives us the story of the absent father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women—and conjures a world of brutality, stubborn courage and transcendent love.
Lucy Terry Prince was born in Africa, where she was kidnapped by slave traders and transported to Rhode Island. While still enslaved in 1746, she wrote “Bars Fight,” the oldest known poem in the United States written by an African American. In this presentation, Shanta Lee illustrates Prince’s importance as a poet and orator, and as one unafraid to fight for her rights within the landscape of early Vermont, New England, and America.
Common garden vegetables have long and fascinating histories. Science and history writer Rebecca Rupp will discuss the stories behind many of our favorites, among them the much-maligned tomato and potato, the (mostly) popular pumpkin, and Vermont’s dynamic duo of kale and Gilfeather turnip. Find out why a lot of us don’t like beets, how a 17th-century pirate named the bell pepper, how carrots won the Trojan War, and how George Washington was nearly assassinated with a plate of poisoned peas.
How can we tell good sources from the bad ones, discern fact from assumption, and distinguish “fake news” from the real thing? And how can we effectively communicate with others when discussing or debating public issues in the news? Veteran journalist and educator Mark Timney will explore these questions and share strategies for evaluating news sources in the rapidly changing digital information age.
Poet Sarah Audsley joined us at the Taconic Mountains Ramble State Park for Words in the Woods.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported Historic New England’s “More than a Market” project that explored the experiences of new Americans through food markets.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
