Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday is being honored around the country (and beyond!) this year. We were a little early (his birthday was May 31, 1819) in getting the party started, but what a party it was!
On April 30, 2019 at the Main Library, we hosted 52 different readers performing the 52 sections of Walt’s epic Song of Myself. It took just under three hours to complete. Phew! We had poets and professors and even humble librarians each take a section. There was musical accompaniment, a Spanish language reading, and lots of Whitman-esque beards. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to read! See below for some pictures and go to bapl.org/whitman for a full audio recording of Song of Myself performed by Ed Gallagher.
