It’s a big year for one of the most important figures in Rutherford history, and the borough is planning a two-day event for it, as well as a month of activities. This year, William Carlos Williams turns 125. Rutherford has planned its fourth annual symposium for Sept. 20 and 21, and organizations throughout the borough will be participating.

This year’s symposium will be the biggest yet, said Della Rowland, vice president of the Rutherford Friends of the Library and William Carlos Williams Poetry Symposium chair.

The symposium

The event will be filled with presenters and panels ranging from Williams scholars to family members. According to Rowland, the weekend will be divided into two sections: Saturday will be focused on Williams the poet and Sunday will be focused on Williams the man.

 Saturday will feature a panel discussion about William’s legacy as a poet with moderator Kerry Driscoll and panelists Neil Baldwin, writer of a Williams biography that is being reissued; Paul Cappucci; Ian Copestake; Chris MacGowan; Paul Mariani, also a featured poet at the event; Edith Vasquez and Bill Zavitsky. Also during Saturday, a presentation will be given by Peggy Fox, New Directions publishing president and Ian MacNiven. New Directions published much of Williams’ work. The presentation will cover its founder James Laughlin, Ezra Pound and, of course, Williams Carlos Williams.

According to Rowland, the main event will feature Dr. Robert Coles, professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at Harvard Medical School and the author of "Williams Carlos Williams: The Doctor Stories" and "Williams Carlos Williams: The Knack of Survival." He will do a presentation on "Williams Carlos Williams and House Calls," in which he will details his travels with Williams on his house calls he made as a doctor. Coles will discuss how Williams the artist influenced Williams the doctor.

"His artistic abilities informed his practice," Rowland says, talking of the observations made by Coles. "Everything he divined about people and the way they talked all come out in his poetry."

Presenting with Coles will be photographer Thomas Roma, who traveled with Coles when he retraced the routes he once took with the doctor poet. Roma is a very accomplished photographer with several anthologies of his work published. According to Rowland, he is also the director of photography and professor of art at Columbia University School of Arts in the Visual Arts division.

Sunday will bring a focus to Williams and his family. A panel discussion will feature moderator Emily Wallace, author of two books on Williams and his family; Coles; Andrew Krivak, editor of a book of letters between William and brother Edgar Irving Williams and five of Williams’ grandchildren. His grandchildren will also discuss their memories of their famous grandfather. Krivak will also give a talk based on what was revealed to him about Williams through the letters he edited. Rowland also plans to hold an open mic on Sunday, though the

Williams Carlos Williams shown meeting up with friends on Park Avenue in Rutherford. The symposium will cover "Williams, The Man" on Sunday.

Shown is Williams’ desk and typewriter, which is housed at the Rutherford Public Library. The first day of the symposium will focus on "Williams, The Poet."

The symposium will include more talks and presentations as well as featured poets, who have not all been announced yet. Events have also been planned outside the Williams Center.

At the library

The Rutherford Public Library will be hosting its own events, "particularly events that [attendees] can come to anytime," says Jane Fisher, director of the library. During the symposium, the library will screen two documentaries on Williams Carlos Williams both days of the symposium. As always, the library will have its exhibit of Williams’ photographs, paintings, books and personal items, including his desk. It will also be displaying birthday cards and other art projects completed by the kindergarten through eighth grade students for Williams.

According to Fisher, the library will be holding a community reading of Williams’ autobiography in October, and the book will be on sale at the library at the symposium. The "Second Wednesdays" poetry reading program arranged by the library has also been planned to be "bigger and better" for the month of September.

Bus tour

The library will also be selling tickets to the historic bus tour, hosted again this year by Rod Leith, borough historian. The route will take attendees throughout the Rutherford of Williams’ youth, and will follow him into his young adulthood. The tour will be similar to the previous tour, but "we’re going to add new things," says Leith. This year, the tour will end at Hillside Cemetery, where Williams is buried.

According to Rowland, two buses have been reserved. One bus will go on the tour, which has been scheduled for lunchtime both days of the symposium so far.

At the museum

The other bus will act as a shuttle to go to the Meadowlands Museum, which has a few of its own exhibits planned.

"[We will] use what we have to tell his story," Jackie Bunker-Lohrenz, director of the museum says. The museum has some of Williams’ personal items such as his wedding invitation as well as some clothing of his mother’s. It will also exhibit photographs of important places in and a map of Rutherford, which will help give a context to the borough Williams knew. There will be hands on activities for the young museum-goers such as dress up, use of maps and poetry fun.

Beginning the weekend of the symposium and continuing throughout the year, the museum will be holding an exhibit on New Jersey authors with a focus, of course, on Williams, which will be aimed towards the younger members of the community. A flower garden will be planted next spring to highlight the flowers and aspects of nature Williams featured in his poetry.

Aside from the symposium itself, other activities have been planned by the borough. According to Rowland, Mayor John Hipp will announce September as Williams Carlos Williams Month. Daphne Williams Fox, Williams’ granddaughter, and Hipp will be leading a vote to get Williams in the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Various voting sites will be held in Rutherford. For the kids, a birthday party will be held in Lincoln Park.