An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe raises money for MU Libraries

The event celebrated the 200th anniversary of Poe's birth.

By Katherine Miller

Published March 16, 2009

An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe began with the clanging of the bells.

Three students and one theater faculty member performed a dramatic reading of Edgar Allan Poe's poems and short stories Friday night at the Conley House, in order to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Poe's birth.

The group incorporated the use of sound effects and dramatic emotion to bring seven of Poe's poems and three of his short stories to life. Some of Poe's most famous work featured at the reading included "The Bells," "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart."

The Life and Literature Performance Series of the Theater Department and the Friends of the MU Libraries organization sponsored the event.

Friends of MU Libraries volunteer Mary Barile said the event's purpose was to raise money for MU Libraries.

"We have really nice partnerships with other departments," Barile said. "The library gets a lot of support from people on campus and in the community."

MU Libraries donor relations specialist Sheila Voss said about 50 people attended the event, with 50 percent of being students. She said $525 was raised for Friends of MU Libraries.

Although the fundraiser only financially benefited the MU Libraries, the theater department played a large role in making the event possible.

The department teams up every couple of years with the Friends of MU Libraries organization to help raise money, said Heather Carver, Life and Literature Performance Series artistic director.

"We try to do things that people who are Friends of the Library are interested in," she said. "It seemed like a good occasion because Poe has been such an influential writer in American history."

Friends of MU Libraries President Wally Pfeffer said fundraisers, such as Friday's event are important in order to generate the funds necessary to support the library. He said it's often difficult to find people who have an affinity for the library because no one graduates from the library like they would from an academic school on campus.

"We're at the core of what everyone else can do," he said. "We have the information and the knowledgebase that's necessary for all of the other schools on campus."

Barile said the event was held at the Conley House due to the macabre and supernatural background of the house.

"We didn't want to hold the event in January, his actual birth month, because we thought it would be a little difficult with the weather," Barile said. "We decided a Friday the 13th would be perfect, and to do it in a house that's reputably haunted would even more fun."

Carver, who said she has been interested in Poe since high school and visited his house during a trip to Philadelphia, said she the event exposed more people to more of Poe's less-studied work.

"Lots of people might not have all the time in their lives to read all of the authors, but they might have time to come to an evening like this," she said. "Performing works such as those by Edgar Allan Poe gives people an opportunity to celebrate his work."

Graduate student Olivia Fales said she appreciated the dramatic approach to literature.

"I was not that familiar with him," she said. "The reading gave me a different take on how to receive poetry, another dimension of it."

Theatre assistant Carlia Francis, who goes by CFrancis Blackchild, said she hoped what people got out of the evening was fun.

"These are all jump stories or horror stories," she said. "I hope that the stories gave them a sense of horror and surprise."