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Since 1923, the Poe Society has sponsored an annual commemorative lecture on the life and/or works of Edgar Allan Poe, presented by a noted Poe scholar. This lecture is always held on the first Sunday in October, more-or-less coinciding with the anniversary of Poe’s death. Prior to this event, it is traditional for members of the Poe Society to gather at Poe’s grave, placing flowers on the monument in a brief and informal ceremony to honor Poe’s memory.
These Poe Society events are free and open to the public.
Sunday, October 7, 2012:
1:15 p.m. - Tribute to Poe at the Poet’s Grave
Location:
Westminster Burying Ground, at the corner of Fayette and Greene Streets
(This is a very brief and informal ceremony. Anyone wishing to bring flowers to be placed on Poe’s grave is welcome to do
so.)
2:00 p.m. - 90th Commemorative Edgar Allan Poe Lecture
Location: The E. A. Poe Room of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral, second
floor
Welcome, and Introduction of the Speaker and Respondents
Address: “Poe,
Lovecraft, and the Revolution in Weird Fiction” by S. T. Joshi (independent scholar, editor, bibliographer and novelist).
Abstract of the lecture: “Poe, Lovecraft, and the Revolution in Weird Fiction”
The history of the supernatural in literature — even if it can be conceived as having its roots in the oldest literature known to humanity — really has its origin as a concrete genre in the eighteenth century. The work of Edgar Allan Poe, however, would revolutionize and transform supernatural (and psychological) horror fiction in so profound and multifaceted a way that it could plausibly be said that the genre, as a serious contribution to literature, only began with him. In this sense, the entire Gothic movement could be considered a kind of “anticipation” of the true commencement of the field. The nearly 70 years that separated the death of Poe and the earliest tales of his greatest disciple, H. P. Lovecraft, saw a revolution in human knowledge perhaps greater than in any previous age of human history. If, as Lovecraft believed, the “crux of a weird tale is something which could not possibly happen,” the “trick” effected by supernatural writing is to convince the reader that what could not possibly happen is happening — or, at least, can plausibly be conceived to have happened. Consequently, Lovecraft wrestled throughout his life with what appeared to be a radical decrease in this very sense of the unknown, as science appeared to be making one epochal discovery after the other. Could the supernatural in literature even continue to exist as a viable literary form if so much of the universe was being mapped and classified?
Response/Discussion and Questions from the audience.
3:00 p.m. - Reception
Location: The E. A. Poe Room of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral, second floor. Punch and cookies will be available. This reception is co-sponsored by the Division of English and Communications Design of the University of Baltimore.
Note:
The Pratt Library requires the following disclaimer for events held in its facilities: “Use of library meeting space does not constitute endorsement of this organization, this program or its content by the Enoch Pratt Free Library.”
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[S:1 - JAS] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Poe Society - Annual Commemorative Lecture