While only a few of the audience members had experienced that historic day first-hand, all appreciated the connection the poet drew between the two charismatic and inspiring presidents, Obama and Kennedy, as well as the link between the writers, Kinnell and Frost, who both held the title of Vermont State Poet.
Over the past half century, Kinnell has penned 14 collections of poetry -- most recently "Strong is Your Hold" (2006) -- as well as several volumes of translation and three works of prose.
Despite his many achievements, including a Fulbright scholarship. MacArthur fellowship and Pulitzer Prize, Kinnell remains modest and unassuming.
In an interview with The Dartmouth on Monday, Kinnell explained that he saw the Montgomery Fellowship not only as an opportunity to work closely with students, but also as a chance to get out of the small town of Sheffield, Vt., where he currently resides.
"I wanted to have a respite from a little town in rural Vermont for some weeks in winter, when you really can't do anything but go out and get wood and stoke it and get more wood," he said.
All jokes aside, Kinnell has shown a commitment to teaching throughout his career. He has served as poet-in-residence at campuses all over the world, including New York University, where he taught as the Erich Maria Remarque professor of creative writing.
Although he enjoys helping students with their writing, Kinnell acknowledges the limitations of teaching his craft.
"Great writing is usually being able to say something that's never been said before in a way that's never been used before, and that can't be taught," he said.
Still, he said he believes writing can bring people pleasure even if they are not exceptionally talented, and that the act of writing can become "a wonderful side to that person's life."
Continuing to develop this side of his own life, even at the age of 81, Kinnell said he plans to focus on translation, continuing his work with the poetry of 15th century French poet Franois Villon and 20th century Romanian-born German poet Paul Celan. Kinnell said he is particularly interested in Celan's "Death Fugue."
In an upcoming book, Kinnell will present his readers with several translations of Celan's poem for comparison, inviting them to consider how the translators' emotional responses to the text come through in their work.
"Many translators think that the purpose is to take some crumbly poem from another language and to turn it into a sparking, American poem, and in the process it loses some of what I would call the meaning," Kinnell said.
While at Dartmouth, Kinnell will visit classics professor Margaret Williamson's class on Jan. 30. Williamson's students translate a variety of languages, both ancient and modern, from around the world.
"It's a great asset to have an actual successful practitioner to talk to, because people have found that it's a really challenging exercise," Williamson said.
When he visits the class, Kinnell will read from his translations and discuss the challenges of his work.
"He's a well-known translator as well as original writer," Williamson said. "One argument is that in order to translate poetry you need to be a writer yourself."
Kinnell will also meet with students in professor Cynthia Huntington's intermediate poetry writing workshop and teach his own not-for-credit poetry course.
Montgomery Endowment executive director Richard Stamelman, who introduced Kinnell at the reading on Tuesday, said he appreciates Kinnell's knack for capturing the pleasures of everyday life in his poetry, as well as the poet's treatment of what he calls "the pain and suffering that come with living."
"My hopes are that he will have an influencing effect on the students that he meets here -- not only an influencing effect but an inspiring effect," Stamelman said. "That's the intent of the Montgomery Fellows -- that they be mentors to the students."
Kinnell will be in residence at Dartmouth through Feb. 27.
