Celebrating Poetry & Community: Highlights from Our May 2025 Members' Meeting

The Keats-Shelley Association of America gathered virtually on May 29th for our spring Members' Meeting, bringing together scholars, poets, and enthusiasts from around the world to celebrate the enduring power of our vibrant community and the Romantic poetry we love. The meeting showcased everything that makes our organization special: meaningful scholarship, innovative public outreach, and the timeless beauty of the poetry and friends we cherish.

Birdsong Readings: A Community Celebration

The heart of our meeting was an extraordinary series of “Birdsong Readings,” a celebration of voice, community, and avian lyricism. These powerful performances captured the very spirit of our gathering—and we invite you to relive them through the recordings!

The session opened with Andrew Mitchell’s resonant reading of Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” setting a contemplative tone and reminding us why Keats’s nightingale continues to sing across generations.

Read along with Andrew Mitchell’s rendition of “Ode to a Nightingale” here.

Next came Nora Crook’s deeply affecting rendition of Keats' “What the Thrush Said.” If you haven’t heard a Thrush before, you certainly will now. Her reading brought the poem—and the bird—to life with striking emotional clarity.

Watch Nora Crook’s “What the Thrush Said” and find the full poem here.

Another thrilling first was our Community Reading of Shelley’s “To a Skylark.” Many voices joined together in a shared celebration, weaving a unique sonic experience that embodied the power of collective joy and poetic expression (even giving Zoom glitches a happy tune).

Enjoy the Community Reading of “To a Skylark” and read along with us!

Our avian journey concluded with Neil Fraistat’s poignant selections from Shelley’s “Lines Written among the Euganean Hills,” gently landing us after our imaginative flight through bird-filled skies.

Watch Neil Fraistat read from “Lines Written among the Euganean Hills” (and until his edition is out soon, you can find his chosen stanzas here).

This innovative format—championed by our board members, with special thanks to Elizabeth Denlinger—was such a success that we’re already planning future community readings. There’s something magical about experiencing these poems together, whether from your home office or amid the chaos of end-of-semester grading.

We’re grateful for everyone’s patience and humor as we navigated the delightful imperfections of virtual participation. And a very special thanks to our Secretary, Bryonie Carter, who led the meeting with warmth, care, and remarkable composure.

Exciting New Initiatives on the Horizon

Our Public Outreach continues to evolve in exciting directions. The Birdsong Portal, spearheaded by Olivia Loksing Moy, creates a new digital space for engagement. The page was designed by two site designers, Sharon Lee (avid Chicago birder, former English major and Macaulay Honors scholar) and Jennifer Wang (a talented naturalist, artist, and birder based in California), hired through our Public Outreach funds. Their design work is overseen by Kacie Wills and Olivia Moy, and we invite you to please contact us with any materials you would like to see added to our community site. We are hoping to identify more collaborators and instructors who might get involved with teaching with Birdsong and who might contribute lesson plans, assignments, or blog posts. We are also taking recommendations for artists and authors who might sit for interviews or podcasts.

Looking ahead, we're thrilled about our upcoming Curran Symposium, Birdsong, scheduled for October 24th, 2025. This interdisciplinary gathering will bring together Romanticists, early modernists, and scholars from many periods to explore the rich connections between the most natural avian representation and poetry. The event will feature not only scholarly presentations but also musical performances and guided birding excursions—a true celebration of the connections between literature and the living world. Attendees of the Curran Symposium also have a birdwatching walking tour to look forward to in Central Park, NYC next October!

Growing Our Community

One of the most encouraging aspects of our meeting was the enthusiasm and energy within our membership. Such events foster renewed engagement across all our programs, and our membership is strengthened by these moments together. The board welcomed new members who bring fresh perspectives and energy to our mission making Romantic Era poetry accessible to broader audiences.

We're also expanding our academic presence, with panels at upcoming conferences and new collaborations in development. Our K-SAA Journal continues to maintain its prestigious position in the field, and our awards and recognition programs celebrate both established scholars and emerging voices in our community.

Have You Joined the K-SAA?

If you've been considering membership in the Keats-Shelley Association of America, there has never been a better time to join our community. As a member, you'll be part of an organization that bridges the scholarly and public worlds, bringing the transformative power of Romantic poetry to new audiences while maintaining the highest standards of academic excellence.

Members enjoy access to our Journal, invitations to exclusive events like our Members' Meetings, opportunities to participate in our mentoring programs, and the chance to contribute to innovative public outreach projects. Whether you're a seasoned scholar, an emerging academic, or simply someone who finds meaning in the poetry of Keats, Shelley, and their contemporaries, you'll find a welcoming home in our association.

Our community readings, symposia, and collaborative projects demonstrate that poetry isn't just an object of study—it's a living force that continues to inspire, challenge, and bring people together. When Nora Crook read "What the Thrush Said" during our meeting, or when our voices joined together for the Community Reading, we were reminded why this poetry matters not just to scholars, but to anyone who enjoys beauty, truth, and connection in our world.

Looking Forward

As we move into the summer and prepare for our fall symposium, we invite you to become part of this dynamic community. Follow our website for updates, mark your calendars for the October Curran Symposium, and consider how you might contribute to our ongoing mission of keeping Romantic poetry alive and relevant for new generations.

Join us, and help ensure that the voices of Keats, Shelley, their contemporaries—and yours—continue to be heard, celebrated, and cherished.