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Unlaunch’d Voices: An Afternoon With Walt Whitman, by playwright Michael Z. Keamy, opens with Whitman on the evening of his seventieth birthday, reminiscing that at least his work has been “less than a failure….” We trace with him the experiences that led to the creation of his lifelong masterpiece Leaves Of Grass, his preoccupation with the self and his resolve to write with “free and brave thought…” Whitman’s life is then changed forever by the Civil War. It is here that he finds “… the most important work of my life…” nursing the wounded soldiers in the hospitals. Through poetry and readings of actual letters, we experience Whitman’s movement from selfishness and selflessness and his growth into a mature artist who is at peace about “himself, God and death.”

Stephen J. Collins grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and received a BA in Literature from UMass Boston. He teaches seminars on Whitman, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost, and contemporary poetry at locations throughout the Boston area and also works as a professionally licensed tour guide there.

Unlaunch'd Voices forms the first half of a double feature; at 6:00 PM on October 6, Mr. Collins presents his solo show about Herman Melville. Registration is separate for the two plays; attend either or both.