From the Vault: An Ode to Brooklyn Poets

Kevina, Center for Brooklyn History

 

Array of noted literary talent of Brooklyn gathers around folk singer Oscar Brand at the National Library Week Luncheon in the Hotel St. George on Tuesday, April 5. Seated, left, is Marianne Moore, the famous poetess of Cumberland Street. Standing, left to right, are Chief Librarian Francis R. St. John of Brooklyn Public Library; Brooklyn Heights humorist Ira Wallach; Paule Marshall, guest speaker, and Norman Rosten, Remsen Street poet and playwright who wrote a special poem for the occasion.
Array of noted literary talent, 1960s, gelatin silver print, CBPL_1062. Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

I am reviving, from the vaults, this photo of a major gathering of Brooklyn "literary talent", first featured in this blog about Brooklyn poetry. The original Brooklyn Daily Eagle captions read:

"Array of noted literary talent of Brooklyn gathers around folk singer Oscar Brand at the National Library Week Luncheon in the Hotel St. George on Tuesday, April 5. Seated, left, is Marianne Moore, the famous poetess of Cumberland Street. Standing, left to right, are Chief Librarian Francis R. St. John of Brooklyn Public Library; Brooklyn Heights humorist Ira Wallach; Paule Marshall, guest speaker, and Norman Rosten, Remsen Street poet and playwright who wrote a special poem for the occasion."

Two of Marianne Moore's poems were recently read at our Celebrating Brooklyn Poets, Past and Present event. She can be seen in this photo in her signature tricorn hat.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We welcome appointments to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

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