Edna St. Vincent Millay and Steepletop: 100 Years Later

Edna St. Vincent Millay and Steepletop: 100 Years Later
Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Spencertown Academy Arts Center, 790 NY-203, Spencertown, NY 12165
Admission FREE!
Refreshments Will Be Served

To inaugurate the centennial celebration of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s purchase of the Steepletop property in Austerlitz, New York, Millay Society literary officer and secretary Krystyna Poray Goddu will present a look at the life and work of the legendary poet. Millay (1892-1950) moved to Austerlitz with her husband Eugen Boissevain in the summer of 1925, and many of her most famous works were written in a small wooden writing cabin on a hillside above the main house. Millay died at Steepletop in October 1950, having lived there nearly half of her life. After her death, her sister Norma preserved Steepletop and its contents so Edna St. Vincent Millay’s legacy could be shared with future generations.

Goddu, author of the 2016 biography A Girl Called Vincent: The Life of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, will discuss Millay’s childhood in Maine, her years at Vassar College and in Greenwich Village, and her ground-breaking poetry. The presentation will also look at Millay and Boissevain’s transformation of the abandoned blueberry farm in Austerlitz, which they named Steepletop, into their beloved home: a working farm with flower, herb, and vegetable gardens; Millay’s writing cabin; guest houses; a tennis court overlooking the Berkshire hills, and a sunken garden with a spring-fed swimming pool.

Admission is free. Please let us know you are coming by reserving tickets for you and your guests in advance.