Galena LitFest: Sarah Orne Jewett: Her Legacy & Life

Galena’s Poet Laureate, Ted Williams and Poet Laureate Emerita of Rockford, Jenna Goldsmith, will discuss the life and legacy of American author, poet, and queer icon Sharah Orne Jewett as well as the connections they both share with her. Through poetry, letters, music, and images they will bring her to life.

Goldsmith first encountered Sarah Orne Jewett in an American Literature course in college and immediately felt a kind of kinship with her. She was a trailblazer, writing about the full range of bonds between women, and a keen chronicler of her local environment and its colorful cast of characters. 

Williams learned of Jewett when his mother mentioned an ancestor of theirs who was a famous writer. His interest piqued, Ted dove into genealogy and discovered her identity. He has since visited the Sarah Orne Jewett House and explored the places she lived and invoked the regionalism for which her writing is famous.Ted was startled to discover a great deal of commonality between his writing and hers.

Galena LitFest is the twelfth annual literary festival organized and funded by the Galena Public Library with support from the Friends of the Galena Public Library and in partnership with the Galena Center for the Arts, Champagne on Main, Galena Cellars, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation. Events will take place throughout January 2026 in-person and virtually.

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Host or Publisher Galena Public Library District