The Woodberry Poetry Room is honored to present a reading by Dan Chiasson from Bernie for Burlington: Sanders in a Changing Vermont (forthcoming from Knopf in 2026), introduced by New Yorker staff writer Louisa Thomas. This kaleidoscopic tale of collective transformation is a trailblazing book of stories and a book about stories.

Chiasson's work immerses us in his home city of Burlington, VT, during his adolescence--and the last-hurrah of the analog era--when reporters, puppeteers, folk revivalists, French iterary theorists, political analysts, poets, dancers, and demonstrators flocked to the city to document (and shape) Mayor Sanders's rise in real time.

The reading will be followed by a brief but lively conversation between Chiasson and Thomas, and a warm and welcoming reception, during which we'll cue up a 1980s playlist curated for the occasion by our guest of honor. Special thanks also to award-winning designer Mary-Ann Agresti, who has created a series of limited-edition VOTE postcards for the occasion. And our gratitude to Tom Healy and to the Haidar Family for their support of our public programs.

Come one, come all.

 

In-Person Attendance:  Houghton Library, Harvard University. Free and open to the public.
No reservations required. Overflow seating will be available in Lamont Library with livestream.
 

Online Attendance: Livestreaming available via the WPR YouTube Channel at 6:00pm (EDT).

While waiting for the livestream to begin, tune into the BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON Playlist,
curated for the occasion by Dan Chiasson.

 

DAN CHIASSON (PhD '02) is the author of seven books, including The Math Campers (Knopf, 2020) and the forthcoming Bernie for Burlington: Sanders in a Changing Vermont (Knopf, 2025). He is the Lorraine C. Wang Professor of English Literature at Wellesley College. 
 

LOUISA THOMAS is a staff writer at the New Yorker, where she writes the Sporting Scene column. A Visiting Lecturer in the Department of English at Harvard University, she is the author of Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams, a biography of Louisa Catherine Adams (the wife of John Quincy Adams) and Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family--A Test of Will and Faith in World War I. 


We welcome you to contact us with any questions about this event. We can be reached by email at poetryrm@fas.harvard.edu or via phone at (617) 495-2454. Persons with disabilities who would like to request accommodations or have questions about physical access may contact Houghton Library's Administrative Coordinator Le Huong Huynh by email or at 617-495-2443 in advance of the reading.