Last Updated on April 20, 2024
Attention Swifties (Taylor Swift fans for the uninitiated)! We’ve got the ultimate ‘Tortured Poets Department’ travel guide inspired by her new album of the same name.
Connect with America’s rich literary traditions in these locales while listening to Tay-Tay belt out the tunes.
Columbus, OH
This underrated city is a page-turner’s paradise. Listen to the TTPD album while meandering through the cobblestone streets of the charming German Village & Brewery District, navigating the Columbus Coffee Trail, or getting lost in the stacks at The Book Loft, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores with 32 rooms boasting more than 125K titles.
The Columbus Book Festival returns for its second year in July. The free, two-day event brings over 200 national and local authors to Columbus.
For the ultimate “Tortured Poets” listening experience, we recommend visiting a few months from now, when the many local parks and historic buildings suddenly appear moodier from the ambiance of fall foliage and crisp Midwest air.
The hipster hot spot, South Wind Motel, is calling your name, or you can keep a library within reach by staying at The Junto, the No. 1 best new independent lifestyle hotel in the Best New Hotel category of the prestigious 2024 USA TODAY “10 Best Readers’ Choice” awards.
For more than half the U.S. population, Columbus is within a one-day drive or one-hour flight. (That’s half the time it takes to listen to “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” from start to finish!)
Columbus is home to numerous authors, including 2021 National Book Award nominee and MacArthur ‘Genius’ Hanif Abdurraqib, Saeed Jones, who has written perhaps the most widely read love letter to the city, and bestselling poet Maggie Smith.
Columbus has a history of producing writers too. Famed “New Yorker” writer and humorist James Thurber was born here and is memorialized in the Thurber House museum.
The Poetry Cauldron hosts weekly open mic nights at Kafe Kerouac, testing the limits of what poetry can do.
Western Massachusetts
Several members from the 19th and 20th century literati were born and bred in this part of the world (or chose to make Western Mass their home as adults). While these storied scribes are no longer living, they’ve left an indelible mark on the world with their words, prose and storytelling.
Visitors to Western Mass can also browse their namesake studios, museums and former homes to get a better understanding of their work as well as their personal lives, including:
- Theador Geisel – His nom de plume, Dr. Seuss, is on the tip of every child’s tongue. Born and raised in Springfield, the Amazing World of Dr. Suess and Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden are both housed near the author’s childhood home at the Springfield Museums. Here, the young and young at heart can enjoy interactive displays along with his replicated studio and living room with furniture and art materials that belonged to Geisel.
- Eric Carle – Another favorite children’s author, Carle penned such classics as The Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and spent the last 30 years of his life in Northampton. In 2002, he and his wife opened the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, a gathering place dedicated to the art of children’s books – both his creations and many others.
- Edith Wharton – Her privileged upbringing seeped into her writing, drawing on the Gilded Age’s lives and morals. In 1921, Wharton was the first woman to nab the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her novel The Age of Innocence. At the turn of the 20th century, Wharton designed and built a magnificent home, The Mount, a National Historic Landmark in Lenox. The pet-friendly gardens are open year-round, while tours of her estate are offered seasonally beginning in May.
- Herman Melville – The author of the classic novel Moby-Dick lived in a modest Pittsfield home he fondly dubbed Arrowhead. Beyond the threshold are a few original furnishings belonging to the author, including his desk which sits in his study framed by views of the Berkshire Mountains just beyond the window’s sill. The home, which hosts writing series for wordsmiths of all levels and areas of interest, is open for tours.
- Emily Dickinson – Born in Amherst, Emily Dickinson led a poetic life as a child and adult in Western Mass. Homestead was where she was born and raised, it’s also where she died at the age of 55 in 1886. Her namesake museum is a compound that includes both the Homestead and Evergreen, a neighboring historic home where her brother and his family lived. More than 8,000 artifacts connecting the poet to her time on earth are on display along with much of her work.
More literary travel to bookmark
Hattiesburg, MS
One of Hattiesburg’s unique and unexpected attractions is the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, home to 200,000+ books dating back to as early as 1530. From the original illustrations of Curious George to John Green’s manuscripts complete with editors’ post-it-notes and all, literature lovers are promised an unforgettable journey through time.
A trip to Hattiesburg wouldn’t be complete without a visit to The Lucky Rabbit, where a set recreation of Taylor Swift’s Folklore Cabin provides a fun and interactive experience for “Swifties” visiting the Hub City.
Montgomery, AL
No poet may have ever been more tortured than Montgomery’s most famous native son, Hank Williams. Although Hank Williams’s birthplace is located just south of the city in Georgiana, it was in Montgomery where Williams honed his craft as a singer and songwriter and launched his career on the radio.
Visitors can pay their respects to the late country music legend by visiting his gravesite, exploring a treasure trove of memorabilia at the Hank Williams Museum, and posing with the lonesome troubadour himself at the Hank Williams statue, located at the entrance to the at the Alabama Riverfront Park.
Providence, RI
While Edgar Allan Poe never lived in Providence, it is considered a significant place in his lifetime as it is the place where he met and courted Rhode Island poet, Sarah Helen Whitman. After several visits and love letters, the two became engaged and spent much of their time together at Providence’s Athenæum.
Some of Poe’s visits to the Athenæum are detailed in the Athenæum Special Colletions where his signature can be found next to a poem he wrote called “Ulalume” and in the Athenæum’s 1848 Charging Book when he would use local jewelry manufacturer Thomas Davis’ membership to check out books. T
he Athenæum offers three self-guided tours: Building & History, Art & Scultpure, and Collections & Authors. Each can be taken separately or sequentially and take 15-20 minutes.
Santa Fe, NM
The Santa Fe International Literary Festival, taking place May 17-19, will feature authors and readers coming together from near and far to celebrate reading, writing, poetry, storytelling, and more. A wide range of topics and issues are discussed from politics to race to the environment inclusive of all ideas and stories.
While the official event last three days, there are activities planned for the days before and after the festival such as book signings and exploring northern New Mexico while festivalgoers are in town. The full schedule of events is listed on the Festival website.
Newnan-Coweta, GA
Newnan-Coweta, Georgia is hosting its biannual Southern Litfest on June 8, 2024. This event celebrates the intersection of nature and art, featuring talks from legendary original Riverkeeper Sally Betha, Ansel Adams award winning outdoor photographer CC Lockwood and many more. It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow book lovers and discover new reads within Newnan’s Carnegie Library, the oldest Carnegie Library in Georgia opening its doors in 1904.
This is one of the most recognizable landmarks of historic downtown Newnan and is still operating as a public library.
