Bill Moebius, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts, surveys New England's literary landscape. We travel from the Poet's Seat Tower in Greenfield, Massachusetts, to Vermont where a famous British poet from India almost became a famous American poet from India. Next, we visit the site of a 1746 massacre on the Deerfield River in Massachusetts commemorated in the first poem in English composed by an African-American slave (Lucy Terry Prince). Finally, in Conway Massachusetts, we are reminded of the New England poet's role in world affairs through the poetry and life of Archibald MacLeish. In this introduction to the fourteen part series, "Poets of New England", we contemplate the poet's place as both private and public, local and global.

Part 1: Filmed on location at the Dickinson Homestead, the viewer will gain insight into the lifestyle and poetry of Emily Dickinson. Carol Sokolowki, Professor of English from Massasoit Community College, presents a thoughtful program that examines the reclusive poet’s life in the context of women’s cultural roles in the 19th century. In this program archival photographs, artifacts, original manuscripts, and re-creations bring Dickinson’s world to life.
Part 2: What makes the poetry of Emily Dickinson so unique? Carol Sokolowski, Professor of English from Massasoit Community College looks at the subject matter, complexity and structure of Dickinson’s work. We explore Dickinson the innovator, whose innovative style and form dramatically influenced the course of modern American poetry. Segments filmed at the Dickinson Homestead, archival photos, original manuscripts, and re-creations help illustrate the work of this influential poet.

"Wild Nights-Wild Nights-!. . . these are scarcely the kind of words we expect to see coming from the mouth of a 19th century, spinster lady." Carol Sokolowski

Part 1: Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell are two important American poets with strong New England ties. They were friends who critiqued and influenced their respective work. Eugene Gloria and Thomas Scriver, both Professors of English at Holyoke Community College look at the complex lives and relationships of these two well respected poets and examine their poems: "The Quaker Graveyard" by Robert Lowell and "In the Waiting Room" and by Elizabeth Bishop. Dramatic readings of the poems are beautifully illustrated with powerful photography.
Robert Lowell came from a prominent Boston family whose ancestors James Russell Lowell and Amy Lowell were also poets. Bishop was born and educated in Massachusetts, but chose to live a large part of her life in Brazil. Together they enjoyed a friendship that allowed them to critique each others work and provide affirmation and support. Eugene Gloria and Thomas Scriver of Holyoke Community College explore the lives and works of these master poets. In particular, the poems "The Moose" and "The Armadillo" by Bishop and "For the Union Dead" and "Skunk Hour" by Lowell are read and examined.

Poet Martin Espada delivers a powerful poetry reading from his award-winning writings. His work is personal, political, pointed, and ultimately universal. He draws inspiration from his rich Puerto Rican-American heritage. Espada has been the recipient of many awards among them two NEA Fellowships, a Massachusetts Artist’s Fellowship, the PEN/Revson Fellowship and the Patterson Poetry Prize. Espada weaves together an arresting selection of his poems from his six poetry collections. Espada lives and writes in Massachusetts where he is a Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Part 1: This prominent contemporary poet was born in New Delhi, grew up Muslim in Kashmir and settled for a decade in Amherst, Massachusetts. He was the director of the MFA writing program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. With Bill Moebius, Professor of Comparative Literature at UMass Amherst, Agha Shahid Ali leads us on an exploration of his life and work as an expatriate and a poet. He talks about his early exposure to many cultures in Kashmir where he spoke English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Kashmiri and notes his lifelong attachment to the poetry of Emily Dickinson. This dialogue is interwoven with readings by the poet of works from his seven collections of poetry, including the poems: "Postcard from Kashmir" and "The Floating Post Office." Agha Shahid Ali was the recipient of many fellowships and awards until his untimely death in 2001. This rare film captures the brilliance and humanity of this prominent poet.
The conversation between Bill Moebius, UMass Professor of Comparative Literature, and Agha Shahid Ali continues in this video. Shahid talks about his gradual migration from free verse to traditional poetic forms like the sestina and villanelle. He talks about the liberating effect re-discovering traditional poetic forms has had on his work at this point in his life. We learn about an Urdu poetry form called the "ghazal." With intensity and feeling, Agha Shahid Ali reads some of his own ghazals and other poems like the arresting "Dacca Gauzes." This film features rare footage and touching readings by this prolific poet who died in 2001.

Poet Eugene Gloria reads selections from his recent book Drivers at the Short-Time Motel (2000). Gloria was born in the Philippines, and raised in San Francisco. He has received numerous awards including a Fulbright Fellowship and the Poetry Society of America’s George Bogin Memorial Award. He was also the National Poetry Series 1999 competition winner. Eugene has spent time in New England as a scholar at the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference in Vermont, as a resident at the Vermont Studio Center and at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. He taught at Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts before accepting a teaching position with DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

Renowned poet and novelist Sylvia Plath grew up in the suburbs of Boston and attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Her suicide in 1963, at age 30, and the generally autobiographical nature of her writing have encouraged much controversial speculation about Plath’s relationship with her parents. English Professor Richard Larschan from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth examines Plath’s complex relationship with her mother, and her often ambivalent feelings about motherhood. This program features exclusive video footage from interviews Professor Larschan conducted in1986 with Aurelia Plath, Sylvia’s mother. Archival photographs, re-creations, and original manuscripts also assist viewers in exploring some of Plath’s poems on the theme of motherhood and the mother figure, including "The Disquieting Muses," "Morning Song," "Medusa" and "Kindness."

Suicide at age 30 cut short the brilliant career of renowned poet and novelist Sylvia Plath. This program written and presented by Richard Larschan, Professor of English at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, examines the life-long impact on Plath of her father’s death when she was 8-years-old. Larschan cautions viewers against reading her poems too literally, encouraging them instead to examine ways that Plath manipulated autobiographical facts to convey her distinct artistic vision. Exclusive video footage from Professor Larschan’s 1986 interview with Aurelia Plath, Sylvia’s mother adds yet a further dimension to this program. Archival photographs, re-creations, and original manuscripts assist viewers in exploring some of Plath’s writings about her father, including: "Ballad Banale," "The Colossus," "Electra on Azalea Path," and "Daddy."

In this program, poet Ron Welburn in conversation with Bill Moebius, UMass Amherst Professor of Comparative Literature, gives a dramatic and reflective reading of his work. We discover how Welburn’s rich Native-American and African-American heritages provide inspiration for his distinct poetic voice. The vivid yet subtle outdoor setting affords a perfect backdrop for Welburn’s reading. The poet reads selections from his latest collection of poetry Coming Through Smoke and the Dreaming (2001) and from earlier collections. Welburn lives and writes in Massachusetts where he is a Professor of English and Director of the Native American Studies program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Filmed in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of Theodor Geisel, this program looks at the poetry of Dr. Seuss. Bill Moebius, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, presents an insightful program about the place of Dr. Seuss in the realm of poetry and poetic language. While widely known in the English-speaking world as a children’s storybook author/illustrator, Seuss is not always recognized for the stamp, twist and spin he put on poetic language. Moebius challenges the viewer to take a second look at the play of language in Seuss’s work. The lively, witty combination of words (English and not so English) and pictures imagined by Geisel represents a unique form of poetry. Viewers are invited to see for themselves the author’s birthplace, Mulberry Street and various sites at Forest Park in Springfield where the poet’s imagination found room to grow.

When you think of a well-known New England poet, Robert Frost immediately comes to mind. Shot on-location in Derry, New Hampshire, at the Robert Frost farm, Sheila Willard, Professor of Humanities at Middlesex Community College, speaks about the poet’s life and work. Professor Willard discusses the opinions of various literary critics in investigating Frost’s quintessential New England persona. This program presents a biography of the poet and a discussion of his work and its meaning in influencing modern American poets. Striking footage from the Frost farm, original texts, and archival photographs help illuminate this master poet’s life and work.