You probably pass by your local cemetery every day—but did you know that the images carved into those stones contain secret messages? Vermont Book Award Winner and folklorist GennaRose Nethercott will teach you to crack the codes hidden in old New England gravestone art… plus discuss the elaborate, eccentric, and downright eerie burial practices Puritan New Englanders participated in while entombing their dead—from purple gloves to mirror magic.
And as the final nail in the coffin? We’ll learn the true tales behind some of Vermont’s very strangest gravestones.
Mileage
Projector and connections for laptop
First, contact the speaker by clicking on their biography below to confirm their availability and discuss any special arrangements.
Then, click this “Book this Talk!” button to send a request form to Vermont Humanities. We’ll respond within one week.
Contact Jacob Pelletier at jpelletier@vermonthumanities.org.
GennaRose Nethercott is the author of a novel, Thistlefoot, and a short story collection, Fifty Beasts to Break YourHeart — winner of the Vermont Book Award for Fiction. Her first book, The Lumberjack’s Dove, was selected by Louise Glück as winner of the National Poetry Series — and as a folklorist, she serves as the head writer behind the podcast Lore.
You probably pass by your local cemetery every day—but did you know that the images carved into those stones contain secret messages? Vermont Book Award Winner and folklorist GennaRose Nethercott will teach you to crack the codes hidden in old New England gravestone art.
Our seasonal “Words in the Woods” program allows Vermonters and visitors to enjoy our state’s natural beauty while listening to and reading literature in the outdoors.
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 the Chandler Center for the Arts’ Global Connections Youth Outreach program, which highlights artists from around the world.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
