Bronx Literature, Béatrice Coron (2006)
Location: Burke Avenue

The text below is summarized from the artist's official page for this work: Bronx Literature/beatricecoron.com. Thanks to Béatrice Coron for the photos.

A celebration of Bronx literature, depicting the universe of four writers who lived in or wrote about the Bronx: Sholom Aleichem, James Baldwin, Nicholasa Mohr and Edgar Allan Poe. Through the stories of these writers, we visit important moments of the neighborhood's history. Each window depicts a book and a time period.

Edgar Allan Poe rented a small cottage in Fordham in 1846, during which time he wrote "Annabel Lee" and "The Bells." The cottage, now in Poe Park, is administered by The Bronx County Historical Society as a historic landmark museum.

Sholom Aleichem, whose Adventures of Mottel included the story of the "Fiddler on the Roof," was born in Russia but died in The Bronx in 1916.

James Baldwin attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx in the 1940s. Scenes from his work The Fire Next Time, which includes a memoir of his high school years, are depicted.

Nicholasa Mohr's El Bronx Remembered includes stories of growing up in the South Bronx during its heyday, from 1946 to 1956.

" Reading on the subway is a daily commuter activity that is common but highly individual. At the same time the Bronx has been the home and inspiration for many writers. I wanted to celebrate the borough's rich literary heritage that encompasses the voices of writers as diverse as Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Shalom Aleichem, Jack Kerouac, Countee Cullen, Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, Allen Ginsberg, Chaim Potok, E.L. Doctorow, and many others. These authors tell the story of the borough from colonial times to suburban and contemporary community developments. Their works help us travel through time, into different social classes and communities making each of us an insider.

In my project Bronx Literature, each glass panel celebrates one writer and the atmosphere of his/her books. The station will present the following books: Ulalume, Edgar Allan Poe; Mottel, the Cantor's Son, Sholem Aleichem; The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin; and El Bronx Remembered, Nicholasa Mohr. Each writer's stories or poems are a window on a particular neighborhood at a particular time. Each of the windows in the image also depicts people reading.

The artwork at the station will make us discover the many aspects of the borough and enrich the everyday activity of commuting."--B�atrice Coron. Source: cuny.edu.