Edna St. Vincent Millay & Steepletop: 100 Years Later
Millay biographer to speak at Spencertown Academy

Reservations are at capacity for this event!

This year The Millay Society celebrates the centennial of Millay and her husband Eugen Boissevain’s purchase of Steepletop, Millay’s home for the second half of her life. As part of the celebration of this milestone, Millay Society literary officer and secretary Krystyna Poray Goddu will present a look at the life and work of the legendary poet.

Millay (1892-1950) and Boissevain moved to Austerlitz in the summer of 1925, and many of the poet’s most famous works were written in a small wooden writing cabin on a hillside above the main house. Millay died at Steepletop in October 1950, having lived there nearly half of her life. After her death, her sister Norma preserved Steepletop and its contents so Edna St. Vincent Millay’s legacy could be shared with future generations.

Goddu, author of the 2016 biography A Girl Called Vincent: The Life of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, will discuss Millay’s childhood in Maine, her years at Vassar College and in Greenwich Village, and her ground-breaking poetry. The presentation will include a look at Millay and Boissevain’s transformation of the abandoned blueberry farm in Austerlitz, which they named Steepletop, into their beloved home, a working farm with flower, herb, and vegetable gardens; Millay’s writing cabin; guest houses; a tennis court overlooking the Berkshire hills, and a sunken garden with a spring-fed swimming pool.

Light refreshments will be served.

Admission is free but RSVPs are requested.