The James Merrill House proudly hosted a memorable literary festival on October 2-4. Commemorating what would have been James Merrill’s 100th birthday, which was on March 3 of this year, we celebrated with over 40 writers returning to Stonington where they once resided during their month-long residencies. Well over 300 people took part in workshops, panel discussions, apartment tours, a celebratory dinner and a concert performed on Friday night at the LaGrua Center by noted composer, Matthew Aucoin, and the grammy award winning tenor, Nicholas Phan. The following night, our own Henri Cole gave the keynote address at LaGrua; then it was off to The Hounds to honor the Merrill Family for their devotion and support of the James Merrill House for the past 30 years.
Over two years of planning resulted in the most rewarding and enriching experience had by all. We also reflected on the history of the building at 107 Water Street, which plays a significant part in many of Merrill’s poems. The announcement of the “Help the House” campaign was also made – we will be making significant repairs to the James Merrill House, and many of our weekend attendees made generous donations. If you would like to make a contribution, please visit the James Merrill House website. And, if you are not on our mailing list, please go to the events section of the site and sign up. Our next scheduled event is a reading at Bank Square Books on October 20 @ 5:00pm by our current writer-in-residence, the award-winning poet, Ange Mlinko.
— John Groton, Co-chair
