hcl.harvard.edu

May 27 – March 31, 2010

Masked Festivals of Canton Bo (Ivory Coast), West Africa
The festivals of Canton Bo, located in the dense forest region of eastern Liberia and western Ivory Coast, centered on the g'la, or the spirit forms of ancient ancestors who appeared in post-harvest festivals wearing carved masks and full body coverings of straw, animal hide, textiles and paint. Until 2002, the Bo people invited the sprits each year to protect their village against unknown threats, and to stimulate fertility for both women and crops. Through rare drawings and photographs, along with masks from the Peabody Museum collections, Masked Festivals explores the different kinds of spirit forms and their performances.

Gallery, Tozzer Library
Hours
Bibliography
For details contact Janet Steins at 617-495-2292

June 24 - November 30

Gleams of a Remoter World: Mapping the European Alps
This exhibit explores how European cartographers over the centuries have responded to the challenge of mapping the Alps. It surveys the range of techniques employed to represent mountains in graphic form: from the stylized hill profiles of Renaissance maps to recent topographic maps that combine contours, hill shading, rock drawing, and landscape tints to create a naturalistic, three-dimensional impression of the terrain. The exhibit looks at a variety of cartographic genres, including maps celebrating military conquest, panoramic views for tourists, guides for hikers and skiers, national surveys, and transportation maps.

Map Gallery Hall, Pusey Library
Hours
For details contact Joseph Garver at 617-495-2417

June 1, 2009 - May 30, 2010

2008 Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize
Established in 1977, the Visiting Committee Prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting recognizes and encourages book collecting by undergraduates at Harvard. Students competing for the annual prize submit an annotated bibliography and an essay on their collecting efforts, the influence of mentors, the experience of searching for, organizing and caring for items and the future direction of the collection.

Second and third floor display cases, Lamont Library
Hours
For details, contact Lynn Sayers at 617-495-2455

September 18, 2009 – December 18, 2009

Looking Up : Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy 2009
This exhibit presents foundational works in astronomy that proclaim new scientific truths or hypotheses. Treasures from the Houghton Library and the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments showcase the great astronomical scholars/philosophers from the 16th to 18th century: Copernicus, Hevelius, Kepler, Newton, and others. Four hundred years ago Galileo viewed through a single tube, since then, the science of observation has taken tremendous leaps. With the planned Giant Magellan Telescope to be completed in 2018 and having four times the light gathering capabilities of existing instruments, just imagine what the next 400 years will bring to the astronomical sciences!

Copeland Gallery, Pusey Library
Hours: M-F, 9am - 5pm
For details contact Michael R. Blake at 617-496-7601

September 25, 2009 – January 29, 2010

Weather Control: Pluviculture, Cloud Seeding and Climate Engineering
Some people are unwilling to heed the adage “you can’t change the weather.” This exhibition recounts the history of attempts to control the weather, from native rituals through nineteenth century “rainmaking,” Cold War weather-modification research and contemporary investigations into climate engineering.

Main floor, Cabot Library
Hours
For details, contact Reed Lowrie at 617-496-5534

September 1, 2009 – August 31, 2010

Roosevelt Reading: The Pigskin Library, 1909 – 1910
After leaving the Presidency in March 1909, Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit left the U.S. for a long-promised safari in British East Africa. Among the items Roosevelt took on safari was his “pigskin library” – 55 books, bound in pigskin to withstand the rigors of the hunt. Presented to Harvard in 2002 and first shown in 2003, the library will be exhibited this year to mark its centennial.

Theodore Roosevelt Gallery, Pusey Library
For details, contact Wallace Dailey at 617-384-7938

October 2009 - April 2010

John Keats and Fanny Brawne
In the autumn of 1818, the poet John Keats met a young woman named Fanny Brawne. Despite obstacles - both financial and tubercular - Keats and Brawne fell in love. Their relationship inspired some of Keats's best known works, along with some of his most poignant and beautiful letters. A new exhibition at the Houghton Library explores their relationship and its legacy, and includes a selection Keats's letters to Brawne, a lock of Brawne's hair, Oscar Wilde's response to the 1885 auction of Keats's love letters, and more.

Keats Room, Houghton Library
Available only during Houghton Library's weekly public tour, Fridays at 2 pm
For details contact Heather Cole at 617-495-2449

December 1, 2009 – April 24, 2010

London As It Is
Thomas Shotter Boys's London As It Is, first published in 1842 and reprinted several times since then, is both an artistic masterpiece and an important documentary source for the study of early Victorian England. Philip Hofer's collection of the original sketches, trial proofs, finished lithographs and hand-colored final images provide an opportunity to examine the artist at work and to observe the city and its citizens as they were more than 150 years ago.

Edison and Newman Room, Houghton Library
Hours
For details contact Bill Stoneman at 617-495-2441

December 9, 2009 - March 30, 2010

Mapping Discoveries in the Heavens and Controversies on Earth
Four hundred years ago Galileo published "Sidereus Nuncius", in which he reported his explorations of celestial phenomena through use of the telescope. This exhibit, featuring antiquarian astronomical maps and charts from the collection of Michael Mendillo, celebrates the new ways of "seeing" initiated by these discoveries--topics that continue to challenge contemporary views of evidence and belief.

Harvard Map Collection
Hours
For details contact Joseph Garver at 617-496-8717

Thursday, December 3, 2009, 5:30pm

The Philip and Frances Hofer Lecture
Richard S. Field (Curator Emeritus of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Yale University Art Gallery), “Cutting Remarks: The Preparation of  Woodcuts, 1400-1600”

The "history" of the physical craft of cutting woodblocks for the printing of woodcuts has remained almost unstudied. This talk will rely on detailed slides of a number of anonymous fifteenth-century blocks in order to sketch the early development of the cutter's technique. The ultimate achievements of Dürer, Altdorfer, Cranach, Burgkmair, Bruegel will round out a picture that remained mostly unchanged until ca.1800. At the conclusion, the audience will be asked to consider its opinions about a series of blocks that most scholars regard as forgeries, two examples of which are at Harvard.

Edison and Newman Room, Houghton Library
Hours
For details contact Hope Mayo at 617-495-2444

Fall 2009 Programs

The Woodberry Poetry Room plays a vital role as an active literary center through a wide range of programs, including the popular Reel Time series (an acoustical journey through our audio archives), Impromptu Poetics: Recording Sessions at the Woodberry, Woodberry Works-in-Progress (a program that offers attendees an opportunity to engage with artists and scholars in the midst of creating significant works) and the Poet’s Voice Reading Series. Unless otherwise indicated, all events take place at the Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330, and are free and open to the public.

For a weekly update of events at the WPR, sign up for the WPR Mailing List by contacting the Poetry Room via e-mail with "WPR MAILING LIST" as the subject header.

For a sampling of other programs, see Woodberry Poetry Room Past Events.

Tuesday, September 15, 5:00pm

Poetry Homecoming : Orientation and Brainstorming Session for Undergraduates, Graduate Students and Visiting Scholars
Meet fellow poets, poetry-lovers and poetry-scholars at this fun and informal gathering at the Woodberry Poetry Room, featuring representatives from the Harvard Review, Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Bow & Arrow Letterpress, the Poetry@Harvard iSite, Gamut, Harvard Advocate, The Wick, and the Spoken Word Society. Learn about upcoming readings and workshops and share your ideas for the forthcoming year. All Harvard undergraduates, grad students, fellows, faculty and staff are welcome.

Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Friday, September 18, 3:00pm

Reel Time: Reaching Z
Recordings by Louis Zukofsky, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams & W. C. Williams
REEL TIME is an acoustical journey through one of the preeminent audio archives in the country. Each week throughout the semester participants are invited to read, write and chat during these creative listening sessions at the Woodberry Poetry Room. The weekly listening hours will follow an almost alphabetical route through the Poetry Room's 20th and 21st century collection.

Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454.
All future REEL TIME events will be announced via the WPR listserve.

Tuesday September 22, 6:00pm

Transatlantics: Poetry Reading by Simon Armitage
The Fall 2009 season gets off to a felicitous and Anglophile start with a reading by preeminent British poet, playwright and novelist, Simon Armitage (author of Out of the Blue and The Shout: Selected Poems). Introduction by Jorie Graham. Co-sponsored by Department of English and the Woodberry Poetry Room.

Edison-Newman Room, Houghton Library
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Wednesday, October 7, 5:00pm

WPR Recording Session: Cate Marvin
The author of the poetry collections World’s Tallest Disaster (Sarabande, 2001) and Fragment of the Head of a Queen (Sarabande, 2007) and editor of the ground-breaking anthology Legitimate Dangers, Cate Marvin shares her recent work and responds to questions in our first public recording session of the season.

Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Wednesday, October 14, 6:00pm

The Poet's Voice: Michael Dickman & Louise Glück
Former U.S. poet laureate Louise Glück, author of A Village Life (Knopf, 2009), and Michael Dickman, author of the compelling debut collection The End of the West (Copper Canyon, 2009), share the stage and their intense topographies in the first Poet’s Voice reading of the season. Introduction by Joanna Klink.

Edison-Newman Room, Houghton Library
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Sunday, October 18, 8:00pm

The Poetry-Fest Sessions: A Night of Poetry & Jazz with Robert Pinsky, Rakalam "Bob" Moses (drums) and Andrew Urbina (saxophone)
As the grand finale to the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky will read poems to the accompaniment of renowned drummer Rakalam Bob Moses and saxophonist Andrew Urbina. Sponsored by Adams House and the Woodberry Poetry Room, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

Adams House Dining Hall, 26 Plympton Street
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Wednesday, October 28, 6:00pm

The Poet's Voice: Olga Broumas & Franz Wright
Join us for our second Poet’s Voice reading of the season, with two authors of “wild avowal” and raw and revelatory assertion, Franz Wright (author of Wheeling Motel) and Olga Broumas (author of Rave: Poems 1975-1999).

Edison-Newman Room, Houghton Library
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Sunday, November 1, 2:00pm

The School of Philosophy: An Afternoon of Poetry & Transcendentalism in Concord, Massachusetts
Donald Revell (author of My Mojave and The Bitter Withy) and WPR Curator Christina Davis intersperse readings of their own works with excerpts from such transcendental thinkers as Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau, in America’s early bohemian mecca: Concord, Massachusetts. John Y. Cole, Founding Director of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, will make preliminary remarks. A pre-reading reception for the authors will take place at 12:30pm at the School of Philosophy on the grounds of Orchard House, 399 Lexington Rd, Concord.

Co-sponsored by the Library of Congress, the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Center for the Book, with the assistance of Concord Academy, Concord Free Public Library, Massachusetts Poetry Outreach Project, Orchard House, and the Thoreau Society.

Concord Academy Chapel, enter the campus at Aolian Circle
166 Main Street, Concord, MA
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Thursday, November 5, 5:00pm

WPR Recording Session: Nathaniel Tarn
Poet, translator and anthropologist  Nathaniel Tarn—author of Ins and Outs of the Forest River (New Directions, 2008)—lends his voice to our first public recording session of the season in the Woodberry Poetry Room.

Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Friday, November 6, 3:00pm

WPR Recording Session: Alan Bernheimer
Introduction by Cris Mattison
A rare visit from San Francisco Language poet Alan Bernheimer, whose most recent collection of poems is The Spoonlight Institute (Adventures in Poetry, 2009). Earlier books include Billionesque and Café Isotope. Bernheimer wrote and performed for the San Francisco Poets Theater and produced the radio program of new writing by poets, "In the American Tree," on KPFA. Join us as he reads from new work and responds to any questions you might have about the emergence and legacy of Language poetry and the literary community with which he has been affiliated (including such literary friends and artistic collaborators as Ted Berrigan, Rae Armantrout, Kit Robinson and Lyn Hejinian).

Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Saturday, November 7, 3:00pm

Continuities Readings & Discussions: Poetry & Ecology
Nadia Herman Colburn, Kevin Goodan, Jorie Graham & Nathaniel Tarn 
In this new series founded and introduced by Nadia Herman Colburn, Kevin Goodan, Jorie Graham and Nathaniel Tarn explore the relationship between poetry and the natural world. Faced with ecological devastation, species extinction, climate change and toxic waste, how does the poetic imagination influence the choices we make and help effect change? Co-sponsored by the Woodberry Poetry Room.

The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Davis Square
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Friday, November 13, 5:00pm

Reel Time: Recordings of Sylvia Plath (with special guest Catherine Bowman)
Our weekly listening hours crank it up a notch, with a visit from Catherine Bowman (author of The Plath Cabinet), who will offer a reading and curate a close-listening experience to the Woodberry Poetry Room's Plath recordings.

Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Hours
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Monday, November 16, 7:00pm

Poets in Prose | Nick Flynn & Douglas A. Martin
An evening of boundary-crossing between genres ensues when Nick Flynn (author of the award-winning poetry collection Some Ether and the bestselling memoir,  Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir) and Douglas A. Martin (author of the Roland-Barthian prose-work, Your Body Figured, and the poetry collection In the Time of Assignments) pay a call to Harvard this Fall. 

Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Tuesday November 24th, 6:00pm

Act-Up Poetic Retrospective | Mark Doty & Eileen Myles
In conjunction with the exhibit "Act-Up New York: Activism, Art, and the AIDS Crisis, 1987-1993," two preeminent American poets and lifelong activists Mark Doty (author of My Alexandria and winner of the 2008 National Book Award) and Eileen Myles (hailed as “the rock star of modern poetry” and the author of over 20 volumes of poetry, most recently Sorry, Tree) will present a poetry reading. Introduction by Radcliffe Fellow Kathleen Peterson. Co-sponsored by the Harvard Art Museum, the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts and the Woodberry Poetry Room.

Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street
For details, contact Christina Davis at 617-495-2454

Events are free and open to the public. A valid photo ID may be required to enter certain venues.

Permanent exhibition

Mercator Globes
Exhibition includes Gerard Mercator's terrestrial (1541) and celestial (1551) globes that reflect new discoveries in world geography and cosmography as well as new techniques in charting, printing, and globe making. Only 22 matched pairs survive, Harvard's being the only matched pair in America.

Mercator Case, Map Gallery Hall
Hours
For details call the Map Collection at 617-495-2417

• History of the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Collection
• A Monument More Durable Than Brass: The Donald and Mary Hyde Collection of Dr. Samuel Johnson
• Public Poet, Private Man: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200

• Cabot Science Library
• Harvard Map Collection
• Tozzer Library
• Woodberry Poetry Room