Forbes Library's newest writer in residence hits the ground running
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The Pioneer Valley's literary history contains a wealth of some of the greatest writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Graced by such figures as Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Kurt Vonnegut, E.L. Doctoreau and a host of others, it's no surprise that in 2007, The New York Times called the area, "the most author-saturated, book-cherishing, literature-celebrating place in the nation."
Since its opening in 1894, Northampton's Forbes Library has been an important hub for this über-literate community. And a 7-year-old Writers in Residence program is just one of the ways the institution has helped to carry on the Pioneer Valley's cultural legacy.
During a reading today at 7 p.m., the library will officially welcome Northampton novelist and poet Susan Stinson, its newest writer in residence, to the program, which was started in 2003 by poet Diana M. Gordon and Janet Moulding, the library's director.
Susan Stinson reads from "Spider in a Tree." See more readings from the novel here.
"They were having a casual conversation about what the library could do to attract the writing community, because it's so vibrant in our area," said Lisa Downing, assistant director of Forbes, in a recent interview. It was Gordon who came up with the idea for a writer in residence, a figure who would further the institution's fundamental mission by acting as "a liaison between the writing community and the library, and develop programming that would appeal both to writers and to readers," Downing said.
Though somewhat unorthodox, the idea struck a chord with Moulding. "You think more of colleges having a writer in residence, or literary landmarks. What makes it different here is that it is a public library," Downing said. "We are truly blessed in this area to have a rich literary community to draw upon."
During her four years in the position, Gordon developed a slew of literary programming for the adult community, including various writing workshops and forums, and a poetry reading series that continues today. Guest poets have included Richard Wilbur, Nikky Finney and Ellen Doré Watson.
After Gordon, Susan Howard Case and Alyssa Lovell each followed in her footsteps, and in April, Stinson took over the role, which now carries a two-year commitment.
A rich conversation
Originally from Colorado, Stinson moved to western Massachusetts in 1987, and has lived in Northampton since the mid-'90s. She received a bachelor's degree in English in 1983 from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
As writer in residence, Stinson says, she hopes her events and programming will attract local readers, but especially local writers, to the library - and will ensure "that writers are in the conversation with the community in the richest way possible."
Since 1994, Stinson has published four books: the novels "Fat Girl Dances with Rocks," "Martha Moody" and "Venus of Chalk," and the collection of poems and lyric essays, "Belly Songs" - all of which have enjoyed critical acclaim.
Alice Sebold, for example, the author of the novel "The Lovely Bones," says that Stinson "translates a mundane world into the most poetic of possibilities."
Among her other honors, Stinson has received the Benjamin Franklin Award in Fiction from the Independent Book Publishers Association, based in California, as well as several grants and fellowships, including those of the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation in California, and the Millay Colony for the Arts and the Blue Mountain Center, both in New York.
At tonight's reading, which she will share with Gordon, Stinson will read selections from her past work, which deals with the themes of identity, love and the politics of the female body. She says she may also read from her yet-to-be-published novel, "Spider in a Tree," based on the years 18th-century theologian Jonathan Edwards spent living in Northampton.
The title was inspired by the rhetoric of the Calvinist preacher's most well-known sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
"It has a pretty famous image of God dangling sinners over the fires of hell, as a person might dangle a spider over a hearth," Stinson said. "So I wondered what would happen if the spiders started to speak - what would they say?"
In answer to that question, she says, she wrote the book from multiple perspectives. "Sometimes it's his point of view, sometimes it's the point of view of the slaves, sometimes it's the point of view of his wife, Sarah, and sometimes it's the Hawleys, who were his cousins and have a central part in the story."
Though she is neither trained as a historian nor originally from the area, Stinson says she became interested in local history in part because of the landscape. The Bridge Street Cemetery in particular, across from which she lives, "got me interested in the history and the stories of the people who were buried there." She developed such an interest, in fact, that she began giving tours of the cemetery - for which she quickly developed a reputation - and soon piqued the interest of Downing at Forbes Library.
"I had heard about this amazing, passionate, interested researcher who ... had kept 30 people on this hour-long tour in the pouring rain, and how she just had a wonderful way about her," Downing said. She decided to take advantage of Stinson's extensive knowledge of Jonathan Edwards, cultivated by her research at Forbes itself, and sponsored one of her tours in honor of Edwards' birthday last October.
Though that was the first time she had worked with the library in such a capacity, Stinson says, Forbes had long been a favorite venue for writing and research.
"I love Forbes Library. I've done a lot of writing there for my own novels," said Stinson, adding that she also takes advantage of the institution's extensive "rich and unusual" resources. "It's a really vibrant center for the community, and it's a pleasure and an honor to be part of it."
Following her one-time association with Forbes, and spurred on by her fondness for the library, Stinson says she was inspired to pursue a deeper relationship with the place where she had gone to write and research for over 20 years.
"I got in touch with them, with this idea about the connection between local history and local writers," Stinson said. Forbes, she adds, is "a place in the community where both things meet."
Downing says she decided right away that Stinson was an "ideal" choice for a writer in residence. "She's very talented. She has a really strong voice, and I think her work is terrific," Downing said.
"It was just a perfect match in terms of her interests and her skills, and she had the time and wanted to make this commitment to the library."
Susan Stinson and Diana M. Gordon will read from their works today at 7 p.m. at the Forbes Library, located at 20 West St., Northampton. For information, call 587-1011. To learn more about Susan Stinson, visit susanstinson.net. For the schedule of events taking place as part of Susan Stinson's residency, consult the Forbes Library calendar at www.forbeslibrary.org.
