Though best known for her novels, Edith Wharton was an avid poet. It was through verse that she expressed her capacity for intimacy and deep introspection, revealing an emotional complexity not always visible in her prose. Scholar Irene Goldman-Price points to Wharton’s Arresting Characters—the protagonists of her narrative poems—as gateways into the psychological depths of a character’s interior world.

This poetry reading is an ode to Wharton’s Arresting Characters. Following a brief reading of “Artemis to Actaeon” (1902) performed by Mary Anne Grammer, two contemporary poets will read from newly published works. Michelle Blake will read from How We Enter The Palace (2025) and Karen Chase will read a selection from ZundelState (2025). Like Wharton, Blake and Chase are enthralled with the past, exploring various historical, biblical, and mythological figures as a way to better understand the present and speculate on the future. 

Michelle Blake wrote a trilogy of mysteries, with Lily Connor, and her chapbook, Into the Wide and Startling World, was selected for the New Women’s Voices Series at Finishing Line Press. In 2014, she published a collaboration with visual artist Fran Forman, in which she wrote a series of poems and a fable. She has published poems and essays in MORE Magazine, The New York Times, Ploughshares, Southern Review, Banyan Press Anthology, Cedar Creek Review, Prairie Schooner, Solstice Lit Journal, Cider Press Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Asheville Poetry Review, and many other magazines and anthologies. 

Photo: Karen Becker

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Karen Chase’s poems, stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Gettysburg Review and Southwest Review, among others. Her poems have been anthologized in The Norton Introduction to Poetry, Andrei Codrescu’s An Exquisite Corpse Reader, and Billy Collins’ Poetry 180. Two Tales: Jamali Kamali and ZundelState is her eighth book. Chase and her husband, the painter Paul Graubard, live in Western Massachusetts. 

Photo: Paul Graubard

TICKETS:

$10 – Mount Members
$15 – General Admission
Free for Students

Interested in becoming a Member? Join today.

• This one-hour reading takes place on The Mount’s Terrace under an open-air shade tent. Please be mindful of the weather and plan accordingly!
• Please park in the Upper Lot. We recommend arriving 15 minutes early to allow time to enjoy the quarter mile walk down the driveway to the Main House. Golf carts run throughout the day if you require assistance to the event location.
• The Terrace Cafe bar will be open 4:00 – 5:30 pm.
• In the event of extreme weather — excessive heat or severe thunderstorms — this reading may be moved indoors to The Mount’s Stable Auditorium. All ticketholders will be notified via email of a venue change at 2:00 pm the day of the program. Those wishing to cancel their orders will receive full refunds within seven business days. To cancel, email: programs@edithwharton.org
• Seating for all programs at The Mount is first come, first served. If you have seating preferences, we recommend arriving fifteen minutes early.
• Accessible seating is available! Please phone us in advance to discuss arrangements: 413-551-51111; ext. #2

Questions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org