Poetry Reading: Peter Harris and Betsy Sholl at the Harlow Gallery on June 29th

Hallowell, Maine - On Friday, May 29th starting at 7pm the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell is hosting an evening of poetry featuring Peter Harris and Betsy Sholl. A $3 donation is appreciated, and refreshments will be served.

The Harlow Gallery’s poetry reading series has been renamed “The Bookey Readings” in honor of Ted and Ruth Bookey who recently retired from their long standing volunteer job of organizing readings at the gallery​​.  The Harlow Gallery is the perfect setting to experience the spoken word at its very best.

Betsy Sholl served as Poet Laureate of Maine from 2006 to 2011.  Her eighth collection of poetry is Otherwise Unseeable, winner of the Four Lakes Poetry Prize (Wisconsin, 2014).  Her awards include the AWP Prize for Poetry, the Felix Pollak Prize, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and two Maine Individual Artists Grants. She currently teaches in the MFA Program of Vermont College of Fine Arts, and volunteers at Preble Street Soup Kitchen.  She lives in Portland, Maine.

Peter Harris lives in Waterville, where he teaches poetry. Individual poems of his have appeared in places such as the Atlantic Monthly, Crab Orchard Review, Epoch, Prairie Schooner, Ploughshares, Seattle Review, and Sewanee Review.  He has published two books, Blue Hallelujahs and, recently, Freeing the Hook.

During the reading, guests will enjoy Art2015, the Harlow Gallery’s 20th annual juried art show, on view through May 30th.  Monthly exhibitions at the Harlow Gallery are always free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Saturday 12-6 pm. The Harlow Gallery is a membership based 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to connecting and celebrating art, artists and community  in downtown historic Hallowell since 1963.

For more information about The Bookey Readings at the Harlow Gallery, contact event organizer Jay Franzel at JayFranzel@yahoo.com.

Poetry Reading at the Blue Hill Library

Blue Hill, Maine - Paul Weiss, Director of the Whole Health Center in Bar Harbor, will read from his new book of poetry, You Hold This, on Thursday May 29th at 7:00 PM at the Blue Hill Public Library.  He will also include selections from a forthcoming book, Moonlight Leaning Against an Old Rail Fence.


Paul Weiss is a well-known teacher and therapist in the local area, and has been the Director of The Whole Health Center in Bar Harbor since 1981.  He has been writing for over five decades and his new book is a sampling of his work throughout that time. In it, he “hints at our underlying identity, as part of the circle dance beyond all coming and going, as the soft ribbon of life that can breathe anywhere…“ His upcoming book, Moonlight Leaning Against an Old Rail Fence, a collection of poems and Buddhist commentaries, will be published next year by North Atlantic Books.


This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. For more information contact the Library at 374-5515.

Poetry Reading at the Rockland Public Library April 3rd

Rockland, Maine - Christopher Fahy is the author of sixteen books, among them the novels  Fever 42,
Breaking Point, Chasing the Sun and The Christmas Star, and the story collections Limerock: Maine Stories and Matinee at the Flame. His stories, poems, articles and reviews have appeared in many publications, including Down East, Transatlantic Review, Puckerbrush Review, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Atlanta Review, and The Twilight Zone Magazine. His new novel, Gone from the Game, will be released on April 15th. He lives in Thomaston with his wife, children’s book author Davene Fahy.

Alan Clark is a poet and artist who lives in Cushing and has had a long association with Mexico.  His book, Guerrero and Heart’s Blood, set in pre-Conquest Mexico, has had a long history of theater performances both in that country and here in Maine.  Where They Know, a book of poems, was published in 2010.  His poems have appeared in The Caribbean Writer, Numbat (Australia), Adirondack Review, Wolf Moon Journal, Zocalo Poets, Little Star 5, and others.  Blood and Stone: Paintings by Alan Clark, was at the Farnsworth Art Museum in 2004.  His work can be seen at Asymmetrick Arts, Rockland.

Kristen Lindquist works for Coastal Mountains Land Trust in her hometown of Camden. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon and worked many summers at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Her poetry and other writings have appeared in Down East Magazine, the Maine Times, and the Bangor Daily News, as well as various literary journals and anthologies. Her publications include the chapbook Invocation to the Birds (Oyster River Press, 2001) and the book Transportation (Megunticook Press, 2011), which was a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. An avid birder, she writes the occasional natural history column for Penobscot Bay Pilot.

Dave Morrison is like a carpenter missing fingers – do you worry about his ability or applaud his devotion? After years of playing guitar in rock & roll bars in Boston and NYC, Dave currently resides in coastal Maine. Morrison’s poetry has been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured on Writer’s Almanac and Take Heart. Morrison has published nine books of poetry including Clubland (Fighting Cock Press 2011), a collection of poems about rock & roll bars written in verse, and Stethoscope (JukeBooks 2014).

Poetry Reading at the Blue Hill Library

Blue Hill, Maine - Poets Elizabeth Garber of Belfast and Thomas R. Moore of Brooksville will read from their new books at the Blue Hill Public Library on Thursday November 29th at 7:00 PM.

In True Affections: Poems from a Small Town Elizabeth Garber’s long-awaited third collection of poems continues her exploration of a life well-lived in Maine. The poems “delve into the precarious nature of our time and how necessary it is to love who and what we love, fearlessly.” Many of Garber’s poems are grounded in distinctive Maine moments in towns and on islands, and capture a variety of voices.

Elizabeth W. Garber's previous books of poetry are Listening Inside the Dance (2005) and Pierced by the Seasons (2004) and a chapbook The Mayor and Other Stories of Small Town Life (2007). Three of her poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac. She is currently working on two memoirs, The Architect's Daughter and A Last Great Love.

Thomas R. Moore's second book of poems, Chet Sawing, was just published this month. His first book, The Bolt-Cutters, published by Fort Hemlock Press in November 2010, was one of three Finalists in the 2011 Maine Writers and Publishers Competition. Two poems from The Bolt-Cutters were featured on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac in January 2011, and two are 2012 Pushcart nominees. His poem “Calving in Te Awamutu” won first prize in the Naugatuck River Review's 2010 narrative poetry contest, and his poem “Chet Sawing” won the 2011 Maine Postmark Poetry Contest. Moore taught English for 40 years in Iran, Turkey, Mali, and the United States. He lives in Brooksville.

 Books will be available for sale and signing. For more information, call the Library at 374-5515.

Poetry Reading in Memory of Adrienne Rich (1929-2012)

Poetry Reading in Memory of Adrienne Rich (1929-2012)
Editor: David Mills


BLUE HILL, ME - On Friday May 11th at 7:00 P.M. at the Blue Hill Public Library five distinguished readers will kick off the night at an event titled Necessities, dedicated to the work of poet Adrienne Rich (1929-2012).  The readings will be followed by open time for anyone who would like to share Ms. Rich's “wide, searing and urgent range of poetry and prose.” The readers will be poet Beatrix Gates, arts proponents Linda Nelson and Judith Jerome, poet Lee Starkey, and film archivist, writer, and editor Sharon Thompson.

Adrienne Rich's books number over twenty-six.  Her awards include a MacArthur "Genius" Award; Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Risk-Takers Award; and National Book Award which she accepted with sister nominees Alice Walker and Audre Lorde for all women. Rich turned down the National Medal of Arts in 1997, citing "the increasingly brutal impact of racial and economic injustice" and adding that "Art means nothing, if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage."

Beatrix Gates' books include In the Open and Ten Minutes. She is the founder of Granite Press (1977-89), a poetry publisher, whose mission was to widen exposure to writing by feminists and lesbians.  Linda Nelson and Judith Jerome are founding directors of Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House, and their works have appeared in a wide variety of formats. Lee Sharkey's poetry volumes include Farmwife, To a Vanished World, and A Darker, Sweeter String.  Sharon Thompson directs the Lesbian Home Movie Project, and has read in many venues including New York City's The Kitchen and the Manhattan Theatre Club.

This event is organized by Beatrix Gates and co-sponsored by the Blue Hill Public Library. There is no charge, and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the Library at 374-5515.