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Hundreds of authors, including Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winners and poet laureates, have visited Howard County because of one organization’s quest to make literature accessible to everyone.

The Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (motto: “Let there be lit”) was established in 1974 by Ellen Conroy Kennedy to bring art to the newly formed city of Columbia.

Since then, the nonprofit group, known as HoCoPoLitSo, has provided residents throughout the county “a chance to hear what other people have to say and how they see the world,” Managing Director Pamela Kroll Simonson said.

Kennedy and her husband, Padraic Kennedy, moved to Columbia shortly after its founding in 1967. Padraic, who was one of the first 10 employees of the Peace Corps, headed the Columbia Association, which manages most of the city’s governmental services, for 26 years. Ellen, in turn, dedicated herself to developing its arts scene.

The couple ran the organization out of their home for 30 years, hosting board meetings in the basement and dinner parties for visiting writers, including Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg and Maryland poet laureate Lucille Clifton.

HoCoPoLitSo has since moved to a space at Howard Community College, but its tight-knit community has not changed. Several staff members have been there for decades.

In 1998, Simonson applied for an assistant position there. “I thought I would give it a try for six months, and I’ve been here for 20 years,” she said.

Sharing writers’ wisdom

Another member of HoCoPoLitSo, Susan Thornton Hobby, has also been a part of the organization for 30 years. As a consultant and board member, Hobby, 54, was tasked with organizing and digitizing the archives, which led to the “Writing Life” — a series of half-hour discussions with writers available on YouTube.

“We have 30 years of Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winners, and they were in these deep, 30-minute conversations about their writing and the power of literature,” she said. “I thought, ‘These just can’t sit on the shelf.’”

Hobby’s work posting these interviews on YouTube has expanded HoCoPoLitSo’s audience. “Not only is a poet here for the day, but he’s recorded for history on YouTube,” Padraic Kennedy said.

“When people see the possibility of [writers] telling their stories, it opens the possibilities of their own experiences being told,” Hobby added.

Mathematician turned writer

David Hugo Barrett, 76, was inspired by the poets he met in Howard County. He had never met a poet or heard one read their works until moving from urban Newark, New Jersey, to Columbia in 1977.

After listening to Gwendolyn Brooks share her poetry at the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, Barrett searched for more literary events in the area and found HoCoPoLitSo.

“To come to a city with a group who was having meetings with poets and essayists, for me, was too good to be true,” Barrett said.

Barrett joined the board of HoCoPoLitSo 40 years ago in part to provide local children with the opportunity to meet and talk with famous authors.

Due to his advocacy and that of other board members, HoCoPoLitSo now has a writer-in-residence program, which brings published authors to high schools in Howard County for writing workshops. Past writers who have participated include Michael S. Glaser, a former poet laureate of Maryland, and Marion Winik, a former NPR commentator and winner of the 2019 Towson University Prize for Literature.

In addition to bringing writers to students, HoCoPoLitSo has also helped Barrett hone his artistic talent. Last year, he published his first book, A Newark Childhood: A Memoir, which details his life in New Jersey during the Civil Rights era.

Events and festivals

With the help of dedicated staff and volunteers, HoCoPoLitSo has been able to create a reputation as an “incredible cultural institution here in the county,” according to Padraic Kennedy.

One example of this cultural investment is the annual Irish Evening, which he spearheaded 42 years ago to honor his family’s heritage. [See the February cover story, “Alice McDermott on life and faith“].

Another annual event is the Blackbird Poetry Festival, which began in 2009. Past guests include Billy Collins, a former U.S. poet laureate, and Terrance Hayes, who won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2010.

This year’s festival in April will showcase Jeffrey Brown, the chief arts correspondent for the PBS Newshour, and Sandra Beasley, a D.C. poet and essayist.

In addition to these special events, HoCoPoLitSo provides a monthly calendar of other literary local happenings.

More than 45 years ago, Ellen Conroy Kennedy made sure that art was a foundational aspect of Howard County.

“Her persistence and her belief in the power of literature is something that Columbia can never repay,” Hobby said.

For more information about the organization and upcoming events, visit hocopolitso.org.

Correction: This piece previously stated that the guests for the upcoming Blackbird Poetry Festival were Beth Ann Fennelly and Teri Ellen Cross Davis. This is incorrect, as they were the guests for 2019.