Mentor Public Library is dedicating the month of July to an author who mastered both verse and prose — Edgar Allan Poe. The “Get to Know Poe” event will include a film festival, art clinic, writing workshop, a performance by a professional Poe impersonator, a scary video contest and book discussions hosted throughout the city — all of which will commemorate and celebrate Poe.
“The library is singling out Poe because he’s a great writer, an innovator and also approachable,” says Amanda Densmore, the manager of the library’s reference staff. “Someone may not have time to read ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’ or ‘Moby-Dick’ for a book club, but they can read Poe’s short stories or poems.”
Mentor Library has compiled some of Poe’s most famous poems and short stories, including “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart” and more, into books that are available throughout Mentor and Mentor-on-the-Lake. You can pick up copies at any Mentor Public Library branch or Little Free Libraries, as well as Melt, Yours Truly and other locations around the city of Mentor. Community members can also read Poe, and see his work come alive on screen at the Know Poe Film Festival every Thursday in July at 7 p.m. at Atlas Cinemas near the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor. Also, see entries from the Know Poe video contest from local teens and adults.
Check the library for details on the city-wide discussions at local restaurants, businesses and the main library branch on this famous author, along with some other fun Poe-inspired programming throughout the month.
For more information, visit mentorpl.org or call 440-255-8811.
