Recalling the Poetry of Anne Porter

Art curator Alicia Longwell, Ph.D., will discuss the life and work of Anne Porter in “Anne Porter: A Poet Among Us,” a live-stream illustrated talk on Friday, May 1, at 5 p.m. Longwell, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator at the Parrish Art Museum, will explore Porter’s work through her writings, paintings by her husband Fairfield Porter and other artists, excerpts from photographer Rudy Burckhardt’s 1953 art film, and excerpts from a never-before-seen 2011 interview with Longwell.

The public is invited to join the live stream talk as part of the museum’s Friday Nights Live! series — and take part in a live chat following the presentation. Log in information is at parrishart.org.

“Anne Porter was such a frequent subject in Fairfield’s paintings that we may feel we already know her intimately,” said Longwell. “Yet it is in her poetry that we gain an appreciation for her love of nature, family, and humanity.”

Longwell will read short selections of Porter’s poetry, as well as excerpts of work by her friends John Ashbery, Barbara Guest, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler — members of the witty, urbane New York School of Poets. The presentation will include paintings and drawings by Fairfield Porter and other artists, as well as excerpts from Longwell’s 2011 interview with Anne at her home just before her death.

During the program, Longwell will also present an excerpt from “A Day in the Life of a Cleaning Woman,” Burkhardt’s 13-minute, black and white silent film, based on a storyline conceived by Anne Porter. In the film, which features the poet in the starring role of Mrs. Rocker, Burckhardt gave comic and surreal treatment to Anne’s plight — raising five children in a busy household. Made over the course of several weeks when Burckhardt, his wife Edith Schloss, and their young son were houseguests of the Porters, the film tells the story of a down-and-out cleaning woman who buys an enchanted dishmop that magically cleans the entire house. With a supporting cast of Schloss, Larry Rivers, and Fairfield Porter as handyman Elmer Turnip, the film offers a rare and intimate look at the creative chaos of the Porter home.

Anne Porter, who died in 2011 just a month shy of her 100th birthday, wrote poetry from childhood. But it wasn’t until after Fairfield Porter’s death in 1975 that she began to dedicate herself to her work, publishing her first volume, “The Birds of Passage,” in 1989. Her collection “An Altogether Different Language: Poems 1934-1994,” published in 1994 when she was 83, was named a finalist for the National Book Award. “Living Things: Collected Poems” was published in 2006.

Discussing her late arrival on the poetry scene, Porter is quoted as saying, “People don't use their creativity as they get older. They think this is supposed to be the end of this and the end of that. But you can't always be so sure that it is the end.”