Burning Candles: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay

Overview

She was her generation’s Madonna and Bob Dylan rolled into one—and yet, by the 1970s, major poetry anthologies no longer mentioned Edna St. Vincent Millay. She had become a lost poet, her literary status mirroring her untimely death. This program documents the brief yet bright “candle” of Millay’s artistic development, from her early years in Maine to her achievements in the literary world of New York, while exploring her celebrity, sexuality, and personal relationships. Among the many eye-opening locations featured in the film is the house in which Millay spent her final years; its contents have remained untouched since the poet’s death and provide a catalyst for the study of her troubled, exuberant life. Never-before-seen archival images and interviews with Millay scholars also enrich the narrative.

Cast

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Edna St. Vincent Millay

Herself (Archival Footage)

Robert A. Duncan

Narrator

Jennifer Lines

Reader

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J.D. McClatchy

Editor, Yale Review

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Elizabeth Barnett

Literary Executor

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Nancy Milford

Biographer: "Savage Beauty"

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Daniel Mark Epstein

Biographer: "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed"

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Stephen Young

Poetry Magazine

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Christian Wiman

Poetry Magazine

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Holly Peppe

Millay Scholar