In exactly one month, a bronze reincarnation of Edgar Allan Poe will be officially dedicated, paying homage to the famed author and poet native to Boston. The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation announced on Friday that ground has been broken on the life-sized bust, and that the dedication ceremony has been slated for October 5, 2014.
The statue will be unveiled at the corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South, not far from Poe’s 1809 birthplace, at 2 p.m. on October 5, though that’ll come after a 12:30 p.m. celebratory program at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel during which a number of remarks will be made, music will be played, and some of Poe’s poetry will be read and enjoyed.
“Boston is home to many artists, and their work is vital to our culture,” said Mayor Marty Walsh in a statement. “I’m pleased that Edgar Allan Poe is being honored in the heart of his hometown—his writings continue to inspire the art community, philosophers, and modern literary works.”
The sculpture is the brainchild of Stefanie Rocknack and dubbed Poe Returning to Boston. It depicts Poe, with his quintessential disheveled hair, an open briefcase and accompanying raven, seemingly stepping off a train and returning to his hometown. Poe is often associated with the city of Baltimore, though few people realize that his first and last works were published here in The Hub.
Rocknack was commissioned as the artist in 2013 when the statue was approved and her proposal was selected from a pool of 265 other applicants. The statue of Poe, originally carved from wood, covered in clay and cast in bronze stands 5′ 8″ and is supported by a steel skeleton.
The confluence of Boylston and Charles Street South marks Edgar Allan Poe Square, dedicated as such by former Mayor of Boston Tom Menino.
“In 2009 we named ‘Edgar Allan Poe Square’ and called for a piece of permanent art that would highlight the cultural history of the neighborhood,” said Menino in a statement. “The fact that this project has moved from dream to reality in only a few years demonstrates that Bostonians are ready to celebrate their connection to Poe.”
Both the dedication ceremony and preceding event will be free and open to the public, though due to space constraints attendees are urged to show up as early as possible.
According to the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation, the program will feature Rocknak, WBUR arts reporter Andrea Shea, authors Matthew Pearl and Megan Marshall, composer Mary Bichner and the Planetary Quartet, director of the Boston Art Commission Karin Goodfellow, Poe Foundation of Boston chair Paul Lewis, Poe Studies Association President Philip E. Phillips, University of Massachusetts Professor Nadia Nurhussein, actor Stephen Walling, and independent scholar Rob Velella.
