Outcast Nevermore! Boston's New Edgar Allan Poe Statue Salutes Hometown Hero

It's a good time to be Edgar Allan Poe, even if you are in the afterlife. On the 165th anniversary of his death, the city of Boston, Edgar Allan Poe's hometown, unveiled a new statue honoring the legendary American author and poet. Pretty scary! Read all the gory details at Jacket Copy!

More than 150 years after Edgar Allan Poe's death, the legendary American author and poet has been honored with a statue in his hometown, Boston. On Oct. 5, the life-size brass statue by artist Stefanie Rocknack was unveiled near a downtown Boston park. Poe died in Baltimore 165 years ago today.

It might seem like a tribute that should have happened years ago, but Poe had a complicated relationship with Boston. In an 1845 article, the godfather of the mystery story wrote some harsh words: "The Bostonians are very well in their way. Their hotels are bad. Their pumpkin pies are delicious. Their poetry is not so good.... But with all these good qualities the Bostonians have no soul.... The Bostonians are well-bred -- as very dull persons very generally are."

Poe's antipathy toward Boston is represented in the statue. Boston Globe reporter M.G. Lee notes: "The sculptor, Stephanie Rocknack, said he faces away from the Frog Pond to represent his disdain for Bostonians, as he walks toward his birthplace on Carver Street." Poe is depicted walking with a raven (a nod to his poem "The Raven") and a briefcase containing a human heart (a reference to his short story "The Tell-Tale Heart") [...]

Has Poe forgiven the city of Boston for its terrifying shortcomings? Continue to mull it over at Jacket Copy.