Feel free to email me directly at levi@edgarallanpoeri.com for any inquiries or fill out the comment box below.
If you’re looking to schedule a tour:
Learn about Edgar Allan Poe’s passionate, ill-fated romance with our own local poet, Sarah Helen Whitman. Guided by Levi Lionel Leland, founder of the tour, creator of edgarallanpoeri.com, and author of Edgar Allan Poe: The Master of the Macabre (Simon & Schuster), this tour will immerse you in the utterly bizarre, totally true history of Poe’s time in Providence.
Levi is a native Rhode Islander and expert on Poe and Whitman, guiding this tour for hundreds of folks since 2021. About one and a half miles long, the tour begins and concludes outside of the Sarah Helen Whitman house at 88 Benefit Street (the red colonial on the corner of Church and Benefit Streets. Please do not knock on the door or try to enter the home, simply wait on the sidewalk.) Parking is usually easy and widely available along Benefit Street. The tour has a few slight hills and varied terrains: sidewalks, stairs, cobblestones, bricks, and graveyards, so be sure to wear appropriate footwear. The tour lasts about two hours.
One of the most intense literary romances of the Victorian era awaits to be told in the historic neighborhood of College Hill. Join us for this unforgettable experience!
*Note that the tour touches on topics such as death, alcoholism, and suicide.
Seasonal tour dates are scheduled and posted on the home page of this site, typically running weekly from late September to early November.
If you would like to book a private tour, please fill out the information below. I also provide a presentation version/talk for schools, libraries, clubs, museums, or lecture halls. If you would like for me to come to your venue, please specify in your comment. Pricing can be discussed privately via email.
Modified ADA accessible tours can be provided! Please specify your needs in your email.
For any other inquiries, specify in the comment box below.
Thank you!
If you have taken A Walking Tour of Poe’s Providence or have attended one of my talks, please leave an honest review here: https://g.page/r/CQgIQ_GcLyx7EAI/review
Your feedback is very much appreciated!
Real testimony from a patron on A Walking Tour of Poe’s Providence: I want to commend Levi for giving one of THE best walking tours I have ever been on—and I have been on a number of sensational ones. His impressive knowledge and touching enthusiasm for enlightening listeners about both Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman are infectious; his willingness to share this knowledge makes him one of Providence’s true treasures. The overall pacing of this delightful tour is also commendable. Levi’s willingness and ability to impart his knowledge about Poe and Whitman makes the experience all the more enthralling. In addition to his deep love for and knowledge of Poe’s poetic works and stories, Levi imparts something else so important: a strong respect for the otherwise not nearly as well known Sarah Helen Whitman, her life, and poetry. In giving her the attention and respect she deserves, he is making another major contribution. It’s wonderful that this tour sheds light on Sarah Helen Whitman, someone who due to her gender and the cultural sexism that is alive and well has not received anything close to the attention and respect she deserves.
