Some of the greatest legacies left to us by great writers are the places they've left behind. The houses they lived in, the pubs or public places they visited... all of these localities seem to tell us something about the writer and their works.
One legacy left to us by Robert Frost is the house at Franconia, New Hampshire. It's the place where he wrote a great deal of poetry, and by walking by the places Frost frequented, we can no doubt derive new insights into his poetry. In "The Frost Place," Donald Sheehan writes, "Frost walked the hills and woods and roads here, and hiked the mountain trails, in what appears to have been a kind of contemplative practice of silent attentiveness."
To preserve the history of the place, the people of Franconia voted to buy Frost's old farm and create The Frost Place, a museum and center for poetry and arts. The place has continued to serve as an inspiration to writers in the last 24 years since it was opened as the Frost Place.
To preserve the history of the place, the people of Franconia voted to buy Frost's old farm and create The Frost Place, a museum and center for poetry and arts. The place has continued to serve as an inspiration to writers in the last 24 years since it was opened as the Frost Place.
The board of directors chose one poet every year to stay at the Frost Place. The purpose of the book is to highlight the "voices of The Frost Place," all of the poets for whom Frost's old home has served as an inspiration. As Sheehan explains: "Since the beginning of the residency program in 1977, the Frost Place Board of Trustees has followed a consistent policy of choosing a poet from somewhere in America whose career in poetry at the time of the residency resembles Robert Frost's in 1915 when he arrived in Franconia."
Some of the voices include: Katha Pollitt, Robert Haas, Gary Miranda, William Matthews, Mary Jo Salter, Cleopatra Mathis, Dennis Johnson, Sherod Santos, Kathy Fagan, Christopher Gilbert, Pattiann Rogers, John Engels, Julie Agoos, Rosanna Warren, Stanley Plumbly, Robert Cording, Sharon Bryan, Mark Halliday, Luci Tapahonso, Jeffrey Skinner,David Graham, Sue Ellen Thompson, Mary Rueffle, and Mark Cox.
Donald Hall writes: "The Frost Place in Franconia is a monument to a great American poet. We need our monuments. We honor poetry as we honor the poet where the poet lived. Frost and his family resided in this Franconia house beginning in 1915 after they returned from England. Great poems were written in this house."
Some of the voices include: Katha Pollitt, Robert Haas, Gary Miranda, William Matthews, Mary Jo Salter, Cleopatra Mathis, Dennis Johnson, Sherod Santos, Kathy Fagan, Christopher Gilbert, Pattiann Rogers, John Engels, Julie Agoos, Rosanna Warren, Stanley Plumbly, Robert Cording, Sharon Bryan, Mark Halliday, Luci Tapahonso, Jeffrey Skinner,David Graham, Sue Ellen Thompson, Mary Rueffle, and Mark Cox.
Donald Hall writes: "The Frost Place in Franconia is a monument to a great American poet. We need our monuments. We honor poetry as we honor the poet where the poet lived. Frost and his family resided in this Franconia house beginning in 1915 after they returned from England. Great poems were written in this house."
As he later writes, "Poetry flourished in the Frost Place then and it flourishes there now."
