ORAL HISTORY INITIATIVE: On Robert Lowell | Woodberry Poetry Room

In anticipation of Robert Lowell's centennial year in 2017, the Woodberry Poetry hosted a lively and thought-provoking conversation about Boston’s beloved “Cal,” featuring poet and Lowell scholar Saskia Hamilton as moderator and a gathering of his friends: Frank Bidart, Fanny Howe, Christopher Ricks and Lloyd Schwartz. Reminiscences included details about his writing process, his role as a father, husband, friend and mentor, his mental illness and the effect of his medication/treatment, his relationship to the Lowell family, to Boston, and to America history, his conscientious objection during WWII and his participation in the anti-War movement. The event also included brief excerpts from a very moving and compelling interview with Lowell’s daughter Harriet Lowell in August 2016, conducted by Saskia Hamilton and commissioned by the Poetry Room.
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Date: September 29, 2016, at the Thompson Room, Barker Center, Harvard University.