Upcoming events, literary news, workshops, and more
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#1 Poetry Festival at UNH on Saturday
The 2025 Nossrat Yassini Poetry Festival happens on Friday evening and Saturday in Durham and includes free readings, discussions, workshops, a small press fair, and more. Among the poets featured include Crystal Valentine (photo below), Bianca Stone, Dorothea Lasky, Matthew Olzmann, Andrea Cohen, Martin Espada, and Robert Pinsky. For schedules and more, follow the link.
#2 Camden Poetry Festival Features Jane Hirshfield
The third annual Camden Festival of Poetry will take place from May 13 to 17. The Festival opens with a Tuesday evening reading at the Camden Public Library, followed by the premier of “The Sonic Café” on Thursday, featuring singer-songwriters and led by Rory McBride.
The distinguished poet Jane Hirshfield will lead a Craft Talk at the Camden Library on Friday and a Keynote Address on Saturday evening. Workshops led by Maine poets happen during the day on Saturday. All of these require registration and several events are happening both in person and online.
Ploughshares announced that "Little" by CB Anderson will be published in the Spring 2025 issue, guest-edited by Peggy Shumaker. The Spring 2025 Issue features poetry and prose by Naomi Shihab Nye, Felicia Zamora, Tim Seibles, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, and more.
Delvyn C. Case, Jr.'s play Nun with a Gun was produced by the Crowbait Club in Portland in April, and his plays Remember the Jellies, Graduation, On Location, and Why Yellow? were produced in New York at Northport Plays in April.
Madison Ellingsworth is proud to announce that she has recently had a handful of stories published: her flash fiction story, "At the Auction House," in Fractured Lit, another of her flash fiction stories, "Growing House," in Apple Valley Review, and her micro nonfiction piece, "Fat Boy," in the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener. INFO
The Association of American Publishers has named University California Press the winner of its top PROSE Awards honor, the R.R. Hawkins Award for excellence in scholarly publishing, for Exit Wounds: How America's Guns Fuel Violence across the Border by Ieva Jusionyte. Ieva worked on part of her book with Kerri Arsenault at one of our retreats in 2022.
Jodi Paloni’s essay was published in “Writers On Not Writing” at The Masters Review. Her short story, “Bling Like Stars,” appears in Cleaver Magazine: Issue 49.
Jule Selbo’s new thriller 7 Days was reviewed in the Los Angeles Book Review. The reviewer writes, “7 Days is another winner. It’s thrilling, layered, and unputdownable—everything I’ve come to expect from this series and then some.Dee Rommel is back and better than ever—bold, brilliant, and always two steps ahead.”
Andrew Slipp has three poems in the Winter issue of Blue Collar Review: “Are you REAL ID Ready?,” “Thank God It’s a Hoax,” and “I Name the Guilty.”
Ashley Bryan Fellow Ning Sullivan has been granted a month-long residency at Storyknife Writers Retreat in Homer, Alaska in April. She has also been awarded the Katahdin Fellowship of 2025.
"I don’t believe in a book as catharsis or therapy or any of those things, but I do think, especially with my last two books—this sounds really corny, but it feels true—they taught me to love better…We are so wrong so often about people, right? And there’s something so charming and exciting and hopeful to me about being reminded of how little I know about human beings and how much I might still be able to discover about human beings. I think that’s one of the most fun things about writing books. I really believe in continuing to think about, how else is this character wrong about these people? Or how else am I, as a writer, not thinking about how I might be wrong about these people or these ideas?”—Lynn Steger Strong
Mondays: 4/ 28 through 6/2 | 12:30 to 2 PM | Mechanics' Hall, Portland
This generative workshop applies the concept of meditation to developing a contemplative writing practice. Each week begins with reading and discussion of a meditative prompting text, an object, and a centering phrase...The workshop will generate writing that participants can choose to share as part of the discussion that develops during the workshop. We may from time-to-time incorporate walking meditation (outdoors) depending on the wishes and proclivities of the group on a given day. Participants can choose to write poetry or prose in response to prompts....MORE
Claire Millikin is the author of ten poetry collections, including Magicicada (Unicorn Press 2024), a book that confronts the experience of juvenile solitary confinement through the metaphor of the cicada. Millikin teaches for the University of Maine system, and lives in Owls Head.
Instructor: Ahsan Butt Dates: Saturday, May 24 | 1 to 4 PM Location: Online
TODAY at 1 PM The Loose Ladies Book Club invites you to a talk by Gary Lawless, poet and co-owner of Gulf of Maine Books on Edna St. Vincent Millay, the poet on Ragged Island, Maine. This event will take place at Merrymeeting Hall, 27 Main Street, Bowdoinham. INFO
TODAY at 2 PM The Topsham Public Library hosts a reading with poets Gibson Fay-LeBlanc and Kate Kearns.
TONIGHT at 6:30 PM At the Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor, poets and prose writers read their work from the 12 Willows Press anthologies Rivers of Ink and North Woods at Night, including Kerry Bernard, William Carpenter, Annaliese Jakimides, Michelle Kriegman, Catherine Lee, Gary Rainford, Amy Ray, Lee Sands, Ret Talbot, and Greg Westrich. The third anthology in the series, Echoes in the Fog, is open for submissions until April 30. INFO
TONIGHT at 6:30 PM Left Bank Books in Belfast hosts award-winning memoirist and nonfiction writer Maureen Stanton to read from and discuss her memoir, The Murmur Of Everything Moving, winner of the 2024 Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence. INFO
TONIGHT at 6:30 PM Mechanics Hall hosts MWPA’s returning series Living Legacy: A Night with the Ashley Bryan Fellows, featuring writers and fellows Alex (Johan Alexander), Liz Iversen, Coco McCracken, and Leila Christine Nadir. INFO + RSVP
SATURDAY, APRIL 19 at 10:30 AM Diane Madden, co-author of the children’s book, The Story of Neeps and Tattie, will be at Letterpress Books in Portland, with her tortoise Neeps for a storytime and book signing. The book received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and is also a Kirkus Reviews “Top 100 Indie Book of 2024.” INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 19 at 4 PM Marjorie Arnett, Peter Beckford and Jim Owen will read from their poetry collections at Anodyne Book Shop, 175 W. Main, Searsport. INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 19 at 7:30 PM Poets Robert Carr, Betsy Sholl and Jeri Theriault along with cellist Philip Carlsen and Flutist Carl Dimow will present a series of poems and Jazz at the Portland Conservatory of Music.
SATURDAY and SUNDAY, APRIL 19-20 Robert W Spencer returns to the Maine Mineralogical and Geological Society's 37th annual Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show at Portland's Brick South to sign his newest novel Conflicting Roots as well as titles from his Lizzie Millett Series, including PROSPECTS. INFO
TUESDAY, APRIL 22 at 6 PM Join Jen Dupree in conversation with Elisha Emerson at the Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham to celebrate the release of Dupree's second novel, What Do You Want from Me? There will be readings, Q&A, literary games, and cupcakes! INFO
TUESDAY, APRIL 22 at 6 PM Mechanics' Hall and Longfellow Books present a conversation between poets Andrea Ballou and Cate Marvin, to celebrate the release of Other Times, Midnight from Persea Books. In Other Times, Midnight, her debut collection, Andrea Ballou explores the aftermath of loss – death, divorce, and departures – and asks the toughest questions: how do we contend with grief and remorse? INFO
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23 at 6:30 PM Historian and library director Melissa Olson discusses The Rose by Another Name: Christopher Marlowe, The Real Shakespeare at Left Bank Books in downtown Belfast. INFO
THURSDAY, APRIL 24 at 4 PM Poetry Reading featuring Mike Bove and Samaa Abdurriquib will take place at the Topsham Public Library. INFO ( See Calendar)
THURSDAY, APRIL 24 at7 PM Print: A Bookstore in Portland hosts Nathaniel Ian Miller to discuss his book Red Dog Farm with Caitlin Shetterly. Red Dog Farm is an atmospheric novel about family, friends, and falling in love, as a young man tries to find purpose on a struggling Icelandic cattle farm. INFO
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 4:30 to 7 PM Poet Kathleen Ellis hosts the 23rd annual POETS/SPEAK! event at the Bangor Public Library, featuring Christian Barter, Bill Carpenter, Sara Eastler, Gabriella Fryer, Annaliese Jakimides, Leslie Moore, Tom Moore, UMaine student poets, & many others. INFO
THURSDAY, APRIL 24 at 6 PM Robert Klose will be speaking about his experiences adopting boys from Russia and Ukraine, at the Thompson Free Library, Dover-Foxcroft. The talk will reflect his memoirs, Adopting Alyosha: a Single Man Finds a Son in Russia, and Adopting Anton: a Single Man Seeks a Son in Ukraine. INFO
THURSDAY, APRIL 24 at 7 PM At Print: A Bookstore in Portland, Nathaniel Ian Miller presents Red Dog Farm with Caitlin Shetterly. The book is an atmospheric novel about family, friends, and falling in love, as a young man tries to find purpose on a struggling Icelandic cattle farm. INFO
FRIDAY, APRIL 25 at 1 PM Jennifer Elwell Comeau will read from her debut novel A Moon in All Things at Books-A-Million in Bangor. INFO
FRIDAY, APRIL 25 at 7 PM At The Stage Door (Penobscot Theatre), Holllie Adams and Annaliese Jakimides read poetry and have a little improv/reading fun too, at the lounge's first poetry event! The 2023 writer in residence at Acadia, Adams has two books, poetry and short stories, coming out in 2026. Cofounder of the Belfast Poetry Festival, Jakimides's poetry and prose have been cited by poets laureate and National Book Award winners and published in many journals and anthologies. INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 26 at 10 AM to 2 PM Bill Portela, author of The Eleventh Layer: Origins of Human Evolution, and Kathy Eliscu, author of Brain Tumor: A Love Story and Not Even Dark Chocolate Can Fix This Mess, will be joining over 20 Maine Authors at - A Cool Little Book Fair at the Winter Street Center in Bath. INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 26 The University of Maine at Augusta will host the 23rd annual Plunkett Poetry Festival, featuring keynote poet Natalie Diaz, with workshops and panels by Maine poets Jeri Theriault, Mikhu Paul, Dawn Potter, and Betsy Sholl. Diaz is Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian community. She is the author of the poetry collections Postcolonial Love Poem (2020), winner of the Pulitzer Prize; and When My Brother Was an Aztec (2012). INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 26 at 10 AM Peter Brown will give a talk about his new novel, I am Jayvyn, at Prince Memorial Library in Cumberland. INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 26 at 2 PM Jennifer Elwell Comeau will read from her debut novel A Moon in All Things at Graves Memorial Library in Kennebunkport. INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 26 at 4 PM In Lovell, The Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library will host a book launch for the release of Scott Ruescher ’s newest book of poetry, Above the Fold. Reading, discussion, and light refreshments provided. Everyone is welcome! INFO
SUNDAY, APRIL 27 at 2 PM Gibbs Writers Group will host a reading focused on the theme of Sanctuary at the Gibbs Library in Washington. Open mic at 3. FMI Contact Jean at empowermepeople@gmail.com. INFO
TUESDAY, APRIL 29 at Noon At Topsham Public Library, Annaliese Jakimides reads as part of its National Poetry Month series, in conversation with John Gillespie of Poetry Medicine for the Soul. INFO
TUESDAY, APRIL 29 at 6 PM Katherine Hagopian Berry, Judy Kaber, Lucia Owen, Lynne Schmitt and Meghan Sterling will read from their poetry at Table Bar, 207 Water St., Gardiner.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 at 6 PM Rosa Lane will read from her new poetry collection Called Back at the Scarborough Public Library in Scarborough. RSVP
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 at 7 PM At Print: A Bookstore in Portland hosts Jennifer Haigh discusses her novel Rabbit Moon with Lily King. Rabbit Moon is a tense, propulsive drama set in Shanghai, about a fractured American family, secret lives, and the unbreakable bond between two sisters. INFO
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 at 7:30 PM Gabriela Stiteler hosts a Noir at the Bar at Novel in Portland. Readers include Michael Colbert, Matthew Cost, Chris Holm, Zakariah Johnson, EK Sathue, Rebecca Turkewitz, Maya Williams, and Katie York. INFO
THURSDAY, MAY 1 at 6:30 PM Poets Andrea Ballou and Pam Alexander discuss their work and read from their latest publications at Left Bank Books in downtown Belfast. INFO
THURSDAY, MAY 1 at 7 PM Print: A Bookstore in Portland hosts Jule Selbo to discuss 7 Days (#4 in the Dee Rommel Mystery Series) with Matt Cost. This crime/mystery series that has made Kirkus’ Top 5 mysteries from Indie Publishers List, has been awarded a Silver Falchion and award nominations from Foreword Review, the Clue Award, Maine Literary Award and more. INFO
With so many terrible things happening both here and around the world, it’s hard to know what to say here. This week, probably b/c of all that’s happening, I was moved by an excerpt from Viet Thanh Nguyen’s new book, To Save and Destroy: Writing as an Other, on Lit Hub. This essay focuses on finding “a degree of joy in our inevitable otherness.” Here’s a bit of it: “…In Italo Calvino’s Norton Lectures, 'Six Memos for a New Millenium,' he examined the opposition between weight and lightness, and chose the latter: ‘When the human realm seems doomed to heaviness, I feel the need to fly like Perseus into some other space. I am not talking about escaping into dreams or into the irrational. I mean…the need…to look at the world from a different angle, with different logic, different methods of knowing and proving.’""He challenges us to explore that human realm with a light touch, calling for ‘the sudden nimble leap of the poet/philosopher who lifts himself against the weight of the world, proving that its heaviness contains the secret of lightness, while what many believe to be the life force of the times—loud and aggressive, roaring and rumbling—belongs to the realm of death, like a graveyard of rusted automobiles.’”Take care,
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