On September 8-10, “Walking Gloucester: In the Footsteps of Anastas, Bayliss, Ferrini, Garland, and Olson” will explore Gloucester’s diverse neighborhoods through talks, walks, readings, and a custom boat tour of Gloucester Harbor. The weekend’s events will highlight the work of five friends who lived in the city and wrote about its varied landscapes: the novelists Peter Anastas and Jonathan Bayliss, poets Vincent Ferrini and Charles Olson, and historian Joseph Garland.

The weekend kicks off on Friday evening with a walking tour of Rocky Neck and readings at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center: “From Rocky Neck to Lane’s Cove: Gloucester Neighborhoods in the Writing of Anastas, Bayliss, Ferrini, Garland, and Olson.” Saturday’s offerings include short talks about the five writers as well as Lanesville’s geology and the local quarrying industry, three guided walks, lunch, and a dinner program. Sunday features two guided walks in downtown Gloucester, a program at Cape Ann Museum (“Anastas, Bayliss, Ferrini, Garland, Olson: Writers Writing to Each Other”), and a harbor tour by boat. 

Some of the walks will take you through streets that Edward Hopper and his wife, Josephine, painted a hundred years ago – a perfect way to fully experience Cape Ann Museum’s exhibit “Edward Hopper & Cape Ann: Illuminating an American Landscape,” which runs from July 22 through October 16.

The weekend’s events are organized by the Jonathan Bayliss Society in partnership with Cape Ann Museum, Common Crow Market, Essex County Greenbelt, Gloucester 400+, Gloucester Writers Center, Rocky Neck Art Colony, and Sawyer Free Library.  The conference is supported in part by a grant from the Gloucester Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

All are welcome. Some events are free; others range from $35 to $120, depending on options chosen. Registration is required, as capacity is limited.

For more details and to register for any of the events, please visit jonathanbayliss.org/WalkingGloucester.