far and few between: RELEASE: Northeast Storytellers Host “Remembering Robert Frost” on April 11

A young Robert Frost at work

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

2017 NATIONAL POETRY MONTH EVENTS

Northeast Storytellers Host “Remembering Robert Frost” April 11

St. Johnsbury, VT - March 15, 2017 — For the third year running, the Northeast Storytellers host a Robert Frost remembrance on Tuesday, April 11th from 2-3:30 pm in place of the regular monthly Poetry Tea Party. The “Remembering Robert Frost” special gathering will be dedicated to the memory, poetic works, and legacy of the longtime Vermont resident and poet laureate.

The memorial event will take place at the St. Johnsbury House located at 1207 Main Street in St. Johnsbury as part of a Good Living Senior Center program. Members of the public, residents of the St. Johnsbury House, and Northeast Storytellers and will share readings, reflections, history, anecdotes, and experiences they’ve had with Robert Frost, his works, and his legacy. The event is hosted by the Northeast Storytellers and emceed by group founder Brooke Cullen.

One of the most popular and critically acclaimed American poets of the twentieth century, Robert Lee Frost (1874 – 1963) received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 for his poetic works. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, and using such settings to examine complex social and philosophical themes. Though Frost never graduated from a university, he received 44 honorary degrees during his lifetime.

Robert Frost was named poet laureate of Vermont in 1961 after living, writing, and teaching in the Green Mountain State for many years. The Robert Frost Farm in Ripton, where he lived and wrote in the summer and fall months from 1939 until his death, is a National Historic Landmark. He wrote one of his most popular poems, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", in June 1922 at his home in Shaftsbury — which now operates as the Robert Frost Museum. The poet was laid to rest in the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington. His gravestone carries the inscription: "I HAD A LOVER'S QUARREL WITH THE WORLD."

Other noted works by Robert Frost include “The Death of a Hired Man", "Mending Wall", and "The Road Not Taken". At 87 he recited his poem “The Gift Outright” from memory at the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy, when faint ink from his typewriter made the poem he'd written for the occasion unreadable.

The Northeast Storytellers — a group of writers, readers, and appreciators of prose and verse — meet regularly the second Tuesday of every month from 2-3:30pm for a Poetry Tea Party at the Good Living Senior Center in St. Johnsbury. The public is welcome to attend, if only to listen, and new members are always encouraged to join. The group organizes events during National Poetry Month every April — ranging from workshops to commemorations to open houses — as well as participating in other activities throughout the year.

National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and is held every April throughout the country. It is the largest literary celebration in the world — with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital role in our lives.

Formerly a noted hotel, the St. Johnsbury House is now a residential facility for those 55 and over. It offers public lunches Monday through Friday in the former hotel dining room. Conveniently located in the elegantly refurbished St. Johnsbury House on Main Street, close to the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum and Fairbanks Museum, The Good Living Senior Center programs and activities, are managed by Vanna Guldenschuh, enrich the lives of folks over 50 from around the Northeast Kingdom.

All Northeast Storyteller events are free and open to the public. Everybody is welcome to attend. For more information, or to participate, please email brookequillen@yahoo.com or call 802.751.5432.

###

Contact: Brooke Quillen

Phone: 802-751-5432

E-mail: brookequillen@yahoo.com