Join us to experience the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Phillips, who will read from his latest poetry collection, Scattered Snows, to the North (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), a collection about distortion and revelation, about knowing and the unreliability of a knowing that’s based on human memory.

This reading is presented by the Amy Clampitt Fund, a Fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, that seeks to advance poetry and the literary arts. Poet Ama Codjoe will provide an introduction. 

Carl Phillips’s latest book of poems is Scattered Snows, to the North (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2024). His Then the War: And Selected Poems 2007-2020 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2022) won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. Other honors include the Jackson Poetry Prize, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, and awards and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Library of Congress. Phillips has also written three prose books, most recently My Trade Is Mystery: Seven Meditations from a Life in Writing (Yale University Press, 2022). He lives on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. 

Photo: Reston Allen

Amy Clampitt, born in New Providence, Iowa, emerged as one of America’s most celebrated poets later in life, following careers in publishing and environmental work. Educated at Grinnell College, Columbia University, and the New School, she turned seriously to poetry in the 1960s, achieving widespread acclaim with the publication of The Kingfisher in 1983. Her richly textured, allusion-laden verse—praised for its baroque vocabulary, intricate syntax, and sensuous imagery—drew comparisons to literary giants like Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens, and Marianne Moore. Critics highlighted her virtuoso command of language and her ability to weave metaphor with musicality and wit. Clampitt’s notable collections include What the Light Was Like (1985), Archaic Figure (1987), and A Silence Opens (1994). A recipient of prestigious fellowships and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she also taught at institutions such as Amherst and Smith Colleges. She died in Lenox, Massachusetts, in 1994, leaving behind a body of work both intellectually dazzling and emotionally resonant.

Tickets to this event are free, registration is required!

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• This one-hour reading takes place on The Mount’s Terrace under an open-air shade tent. Please be mindful of the weather and plan accordingly!
• Please park in the Upper Lot. We recommend arriving 15 minutes early to allow time to enjoy the quarter mile walk down the driveway to the Main House. Golf carts run throughout the day if you require assistance to the event location.
• The Terrace Cafe bar will be open 4:00 – 5:30 pm.
• In the event of extreme weather — excessive heat or severe thunderstorms — this reading may be moved indoors to The Mount’s Stable Auditorium. All ticketholders will be notified via email of a venue change at 2:00 pm the day of the program.
• Seating for all programs at The Mount is first come, first served. If you have seating preferences, we recommend arriving fifteen minutes early.
• Accessible seating is available! Please phone us in advance to discuss arrangements: 413-551-5111; ext. #2

Questions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org

This event is sponsored by the Amy Clampitt Fund, a Fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.