When it comes to literary icons, New England is one of the top places in the country to find them. And someone who knows this extremely well is Sheila Moeschen. Her latest book is a travel guide called “Book Lovers’ New England: A Guide to Literary New England,” and it takes us through homes, museums and sites that inspired the region’s local poets and writers. The following transcript has been slightly condensed for clarity.
Henry Santoro: Sheila, welcome to GBH. Welcome to Henry in the Hub.
Sheila Moeschen: Thank you so much for having me. Happy to be here.
Santoro: This book is not like others you’ve written.
Moeschen: Correct.
Santoro: Tell us how it came to be.
Moeschen: I was researching a book that I was doing previously to this called “Boston and Beyond,” and it was about highlighting kind of off-the-beaten-path things around Boston and some of the surrounding areas. I kept stumbling upon these literary figures, whether they were in their homes or estates, or signage saying so-and-so was here or lived here. And it got me thinking that this would be another fantastic way to highlight New England, its culture, its history, but then to call out the literary traditions that are baked into this region. And there’s so many across all of the states.
Santoro: Yeah, you had a lot to choose from.
Moeschen: Yeah, I covered a bit of ground.
Santoro: So many writers call and have called New England home. Tell us some of the standouts?
Moeschen: Oh my gosh. I mean, in Massachusetts particularly, we are really kind of overrun with iconic writers. One of my favorites would be Dr. Seuss from Springfield. I mean, he was one of my gateway books to —
Santoro: For all of us.
Moeschen: Yeah, right — to reading, to writing, to loving illustration. He was such a beautiful cartoonist and illustrator. I also fell in love with Emily Dickinson. I didn’t know her as well as I got to know her doing the research for this book and visiting Amherst and visiting her home. It also prompted me to buy up some collections of her poetry and really dig into that. So, I loved those. I also loved getting a little spooked out with Stephen King up in Bangor, Maine. I had never been there, and I was pleasantly surprised to find so many of these fantastic notable locations in Bangor that you can pick right out of some of his books, like “It” and “Pet Sematary.”
Santoro: Did you by chance go in his house?
Moeschen: I did not. The home that is in Bangor is now his — the offices of his nonprofit, but he also has archives in there, which I think you can probably try and apply to and go and see if you’re a researcher. It’s not open to the public, but you can see most of the exterior, which is spooky and gothic and impressive and really, really wonderful.
Santoro: I love seeing photos of him at Fenway Park when the camera pans, there’s Stephen King with his ball cap on, and he’s always reading a book and just taking in the game. Your book is organized by state. And if we were starting out in Massachusetts with you as our guide, where would we start first?
Moeschen: I would love for people to start out in Concord and really explore that area. You’ve got Louisa May Alcott and Emerson and Thoreau sort of all within spitting distance of each other. Concord is just such a lovely, walkable place to be. And it has so much American history embedded in it, so that you really get a lot of bang for your buck there.
Santoro: And it is a travel guide. And you do share websites. You share maps and directions, all while keeping the focus on the writers at hand. You’re like Rick Steves of New England.
Moeschen: Oh my. I’ll take it. Thank you.
Santoro: Great job. Well, the book is called Book Lovers New England: A Guide to Literary Landmarks. It’s perfect for the armchair traveler, or it’s perfect to just keep in your car because you never know where you’re going to end up. Sheila Moeschen, thank you so much for coming in.
Moeschen: Thank you so, so much.
Santoro: I’m Henry Santoro. This is Henry in the Hub, and you’re listening to GBH.
