Millay movie to be shown again

The Rockland Historical Society, Millay House Rockland, and Maine Coast TV will sponsor a rerun of “Burning Candles,” the documentary film about the life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. It will be broadcast on Spectrum Channels 7 and 1301, on Roku TV at Maine Coast TV, and online at mainecoast.tv.

The film tells the story of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the great American poet who was born in Rockland, grew up in Union and Camden, graduated from Vassar, and lived in New York City and Austerlitz, N.Y., all the while writing poetry, short stories, plays, the libretto for an opera, and political articles. In 1923, she was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. The film includes home movies, interviews with her biographers, and performances of some of her poetry.

Millay House Rockland has received a challenge grant from the Davis Family Foundation to help restore the gutted interiors of the double house at 198-200 Broadway, where Millay was born. The Davis Family Foundation will give Millay House Rockland $20,000 if Millay House Rockland raises $100,000 by February 2021. So far, Millay House Rockland has raised $82,000 and hopes to raise the remaining $18,000 by Christmas.

Millay House Rockland will begin work on the north side of the double house this winter, so they can rent it while they raise money and complete the work on the south side. The south side will be used for literary programs, including a writer-in-residence program and classes and workshops. Millay House Rockland hopes local residents and businesses will help them meet their goal by mailing donations to Millay House Rockland, P. O. Box 831, Rockland, ME 04841.