LITERARY LECTURES AND LIVING HISTORY
I have lectured on various topics related to 19th-century American literature on topics like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Margaret Fuller, Fanny Fern, the growth of the publishing industry and its technology throughout the century, and the impact the Civil War made on American writing.I formerly portrayed Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne in first-person programs beginning 2009. I retired from these performances in 2021.
VIDEO:
- "The Scarlet Letter [Abridged] — Read by the Author" — A full-length in-character program of my abridged version of Hawthorne's 1850 novel, July 2020.
- "An Afternoon with Nathaniel Hawthorne" (WGBH) — Full performance featuring "Monsiur du Miroir," "Young Goodman Brown," and "The Devil in Manuscript," at Old South Meeting House in Boston, November 7, 2014
- "The Poe Toaster" (NewTV) — Episode of The Folklorist featuring Rob Velella as Edgar Allan Poe (and a certain other mysterious character), broadcast October 29, 2013
- Rob Velella as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on "Dead Air Live," Somerville Producers Group, April 2012
- A Conversation: Poe and Margaret Fuller — Performance as Poe (with Jessa Piaia as Margaret Fuller) at the Old Manse, Concord, August 2010 (in multiple parts)
- Longfellow visits Springfield Armory — Very brief mention from WWLP News (western Massachusetts), February 2011
ARTICLES:
- "Edgar Allan Faux" (Harvard Crimson Magazine) — Article by Maya S. Baghat & Rachel Chen, October 2018
- "Town of the Living Dead" (Los Angeles Review of Books) — A long article highlight living history performers of the famous Concord authors, including Rob Velella as Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Edgar Allan Poe (Rob Velella) on WBUR's "Here and Now" (National Public Radio) — Broadcast on October 31, 2012
