Whitman and Wilde Part 2: Oscar Wilde in New York, 1882

In this second part of our special celebration of this month of Pride, The Gilded Gentleman moves the story ahead to the height of the Gilded Age and the arrival in New York of another brilliant and talented poet and writer, Oscar Wilde. 

When Oscar Wilde arrived in New York in January of 1882, one of his most important intentions was to meet the great Walt Whitman, over 30 years older than Wilde, and whom he had idolized since his youth. The two poets met and in this show, we expand on what that meeting would have been like, how each writer influenced the other, and what perhaps did and didn’t happen. But the story is larger than that, this special show, with noted Wilde scholar and expert John Cooper takes a look at the New York Wilde met upon his arrival and just why and how this 27-year-old Irish poet charmed them and began to develop his own unique brand of celebrity. In this insightful conversation, John guides listeners on a journey to discover just who Oscar Wilde was at the point in his life and career, how he and the city of New York interacted with each other — and just how Oscar would likely have defined and described his own much debated sexual identity.