Maine Humanities Council

We apologize about last night's conversation with Shannon Bowring! We had a few technical difficulties with the Facebook livestream. Be on the look out for the recording coming soon!

Send a message to learn more

Join us TONIGHT for an online talk about Shannon Bowring's debut novel, “The Road to Dalton.” Bowring will read passages from her book, reflecting on her writing and answer questions from participating libraries and readers across the state! See you August 15 at 7PM on zoom or via the Maine Humanities Facebook livestream!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtduusrjorHNACHa8fPV8WlCQCdCkc0kfo #/registration

Read ME is the Maine Humanities’ statewide community read offered in partnership with Maine State Library and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Tomorrow, Thursday, August 15th, at 7:00 PM, I will be talking about The Road to Dalton and my writing process as part of Read ME, a statewide program coordinated by Maine Humanities Council, Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and Maine State Library.

Go HERE to register: https://www.mainehumanities.org/event/a-conversation-with-2024-read-me-author-shannon-bowring/

Check out what Great Reads are on The Library of Congress National Book Festival's Roadmap to Reading! This is the ultimate 2024 reading list with a book from each state and territory. Shout out to the Minnesota Center for the Book for choosing Mona Susan Power's “Council of Dolls” which is also on our Readers Retreat 2025 Book Ballot! (The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library)

Library of Congress Centers for the Book Choose ‘Great Reads’ Titles for Each State, Territory for 2024 National Book Festival The 56 affiliated Centers for the Book of the Library of Congress have chosen books, called Great Reads, that will be recognized at the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival.

Happy ! August 9th is a holiday for everyone who enjoys a good novel, biography, board book, graphic novel, reference, collection of poetry, or any other variety of page-turner. Whether you like the smell and feel of a book or the convenience of an e-book, come visit your local library and celebrate today!

Congratulations, Julia!

🎉 BREAKING NEWS - Maine's Poet Laureate, Julia Bouwsma, has been awarded a $50,000 grant by the The Academy of American Poets, thanks to the Mellon Foundation! This prestigious honor is part of the 2024 Poet Laureate Fellowship program, celebrating poets' contributions to their communities nationwide.

Julia will be launching the Write ME Epistolary Poetry Project, a unique initiative using letter-form poetry to foster connections across Maine's diverse landscape. This project will culminate in a hybrid celebration featuring readings, displays, panels, and performances.

Living off-the-grid in western Maine, Julia is not only a poet but also an editor, teacher, and director of Webster Library in Kingfield. She has authored three poetry collections, including the upcoming "Death Fluorescence" (2025).

Join us in celebrating Julia and the power of poetry to bridge divides and create community!

In the coming months, Maine Humanities will be offering several opportunities to join other readers from across the state in a single-session, facilitated book group on some of our current Featured Reads—books we think are great for exploring any number of themes we focus on across our work.

Each session is optional and will cover a different book. Select which sessions you'd like to join: https://mainehumanities.formstack.com/forms/single_session

A facilitator will ground and guide each Discussion Project, all books are provided, and there is no charge to participate. Join us! The discussion will be richer with you there.

Whether used in Discussion Projects, Readers Retreat, Read ME, or representing Maine at the Library of Congress National Book Festival, our Featured Reads offer many opportunities for participation and connection in communities across Maine.

Please note: there are limited seats available for each session. Please refrain from being too aspirational with your registration.

Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties Maine Humanities Council SMART Recovery Farmington, ME

You're invited to the TAD Talks!

The Art Department (TAD) is a non-profit outsider artists' studio and gallery for adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Uniqueness. During the TAD Talks event, participants of TAD and other Creative Trails programs will conduct interviews with members of the community in our Conversation Booth, lead art and craft workshops, perform live music and recorded original music, have an art sale and gallery show, gaming table, and snacks. All are invited to the event and encouraged to interact with participants of TAD and other Creative Trails programs to learn more about the neurodiverse community and what they have to offer to the broader community.

This event is supported by an Arts & Humanities Grant through the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine Arts Commission.

Join us at the library this coming Tuesday August 6th at 4:00 as we discuss this great book . This is the 2nd book in the Maine Humanities Council README series. We have one copy left and it is a fast read!

Tomorrow (Friday) at 3! Read Me author (and PFL staff member!) Shannon Bowring, Writer talks about her acclaimed novel "The Road to Dalton" and upcoming "Where the Forest Meets the River." She will read from her work, talk about her books, and answer your questions.

This program is presented in person and on Zoom. Registration is required for Zoom only. Books will be available for purchase from Mockingbird Bookshop.

Read ME is the Maine Humanities Council’s statewide community read offered in partnership with Maine State Library and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Today at noon! See you there! Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties Maine Humanities Council

Please join Read ME featured author Shannon Bowring, Writer for an online talk about her debut novel "The Road to Dalton." Bowring will read passages from her book, reflect on her writing, and answer questions from participating libraries and readers across the state. We hope to see you there!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtduusrjorHNACHa8fPV8WlCQCdCkc0kfo #/registration

Read ME is the Maine Humanities' statewide community read offered in partnership with Maine State Library and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

A new book by Rivers Solomon, author of An Unkindness of Ghosts which we featured at Readers Retreat in 2023!

Congratulations to Yashaswini (Yashu) Derisala! Portland's first ever YOUTH Poet Laureate!

And thank you to Maya Williams for working with the Scarborough High School Civil Rights Club to bring poetry to their students! Their poetry program was supported by a Maine Humanities Grant.

✨ More good news! Portland, meet your first ever Youth Poet Laureate. We are thrilled to launch this new program and welcome Yashu Derisala as Portland’s first Youth Poet Laureate!

Yashaswini (Yashu) Derisala (she/her) is a young, brown, first-generation South Indian Telugu immigrant woman who is going to be a rising senior at Scarborough High School. We hope you will join us for a celebratory inauguration ceremony in September.

Meet Yashu: https://www.portlandlibrary.com/highlight/portland-youth-poet-laureate-yashaswini-derisala/

Another Disability Pride Month highlight: Shout out to Maine State Library and their resources for accessing reading! The Maine State Library has resources for checking out audio books, braille and audio reading downloads, books by mail, and resources for receiving newspaper articles in an accessible way.

You can learn more about all of their resources here: https://www.maine.gov/msl/outreach/lbph/

Follow Maine State Library-Talking Books Plus

Congratulations, MiMi! 💙💙💙

✨ We are excited to announce that Signature MiMi has been selected as Portland’s eighth Poet Laureate! We hope you will join us to celebrate at an inauguration ceremony in September.

Currently cultivating creative juices and justice in the northeast, MiMi (one half of the eclectic duo Signature Soul), uses her voice and gifts to empower others, especially youth.

Meet MiMi: https://www.portlandlibrary.com/highlight/signature-mimi/

Every summer, Maine Humanities likes to slow down with some good books. Here’s our Summer Slowdown Featured Reads:

🌸There There by Tommy Orange, our 2024 Readers Retreat featured read

🌸On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder and illustrated by Nora Krug

🌸The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring, one of our Read ME books

🌸Moon in Full by Marpheen Chann, one of our Read ME books and representing us at The Library of Congress National Book Festival

🌸Fighting for Yes! By Children's Book Author Illustrator Maryann Cocca-Leffler and illustrated by Vivian Mildenberger, with a note by Judith Heumann. This book is representing Maine at the Library of Congress National Book Festival as our Children’s Read

Comment below if you’ve read any of these fantastic books!

Harper and Samaa had a lovely time at Disability Pride, hosted by ! We talked to so many amazing people while tabling. And in the last photo, you’ll see a a performance by Blue Room Frankenstein, they rocked!

Thank you to Disability Rights Maine and everyone who made this event possible. Hopefully, we’ll see you next year!

Photo descriptions:
1) Samaa and Harper sitting behind a table. Children’s books “Fighting for Yes!” “Just Ask,” and “I Talk Like a River,” can be seen on display, along with lollipops and information about Maine Humanities.

2) a couple of tents and tables along with many people in bright red shirts who are volunteering with Disability Rights Maine.

3) performance by Blue Room Frankenstein under a red tent. There are two singers at microphones, a guitarist and bassist. Behind the singers is a drum set and slightly out of view is a keyboard. On the left is a sign language interpreter.

Please join us in congratulating the most recent Arts & Humanities Grant Awardees!

Atlantic Black Box
The Art Department
Cranberry Isles Schools at The Ashley Bryan School & Longfellow School
First Parish Church in Brunswick
Mayo Street Arts
RSU 24 Adult Education
Side x Side

Arts & Humanities Grants support innovative community projects that have both arts and humanities components. Co-administered by the Maine Humanities Council and Maine Arts Commission.

Feeling inspired? Our next round of A&H Grant Applications will open September 24, 2024. It's never too early to reach out the our Grants team - Lizz, Kyle and Samaa - to learn more and ask questions!

TONIGHT! Join us on Zoom or via Facebook Livestream for a conversation with Marpheen Chann, author of the 2024 Read ME featured title Moon in Full—also one of Maine's featured books for this year's National Book Festival. Marpheen will read passages from his book, reflect on his writing, and answer questions from participating libraries and readers across the state. This event is one of two statewide Read ME author talks. We'll be taking questions from Zoom and from Facebook!

This program was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Chief Officers of State/territorial Library Agencies.

Read ME is the Maine Humanities' statewide community read offered in partnership with State Library and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Don't miss this Read ME Discussion Project with the Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties at the Franklin County Recovery Center!

We're open 11-4 p.m. today! The Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties and the Maine Humanities Council are hosting a book discussion. Don't miss out!

What if you could ask your favorite author a question? Well, now you can! Join us tomorrow, Thursday, July 18th at 7PM on Zoom for Marpheen Chann's State Wide Author Talk as a part of our Read ME program.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlcuqrpjIqEtYrdWEFRtmB7XHCqN3EUO8g?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR19GRTmSXfJz7_lFoX3VYNW5QVDaxcGU9i9nwwdZ9gNnF-cTjwFEFXhr8o_aem_fnckJXngYq9E793ToOX6_g #/registration

This program was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Chief Officers of State/territorial Library Agencies.

Read ME is the Maine Humanities' statewide community read offered in partnership with Maine State Library and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Samaa and Lizz went to the Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas this weekend! The did a fantastic job bringing all the right people into the room together. We are so grateful to be able to attend this event and play a small part in making it happen through our Grants program. Thank you to everyone who made it possible!

1. Samaa and Lizz with their arms wrapped around one another, smiling.

2. Pics of the signs for the festival and the panels. Maine Humanities logo can be seen amongst the other amazing orgs that helped make this possible.

3. .the.hybrid (Penobscot) performing a traditional Wabanaki welcome song!

4. Arts Transforming Our Futures Panel with curator and Forge Project Executive Director Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nations), filmmaker, photographer and educator Jared Lank (Mi’kmaq) and artist and arts and culture leader Frances Soctomah (Passamaquoddy).

5. Jennifer Kreisberg (Tuscarora) sang a set to end day one!

6. Weaving a Sustainable Environment Panel with scientist and author Dr. Suzanne Greenlaw (Maliseet) who’s one of the authors of First Blade of Sweet Grassattorney and Brown University visiting professor Honor Keeler (Cherokee Nation), and author and attorney Sherri Mitchell (Penobscot).

7. Recognizing Sovereignty as a Stepping Stone to an Enduring Democracy Panel with attorney Corey Hinton (Passamaquoddy), author, radio host, and former legislator Donna Loring (Penobscot), and anthropologist and scholar Dr. Darren Ranco (Penobscot), who’s also a Maine Speaks speaker and Maine Humanities Board Member!

8. Storyteller and artist Jennifer Pictou (Mi’kmaq), weaving in board school experiences with traditional stories.

9. Savoring Native Food Wisdom Panel with Beard Award-winning Chef Sherry Pocknett (Wampanoag), Co-CEO of Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness Lisa Sockabasin (Passamaquoddy) and James Beard Award-nominated Chef Joe Robbins (Penobscot), who spoke at our Big Question event earlier this year!

Another Maine Speaks event with Marpheen!

Yesterday I spoke to a group of about 20 or so older adults at The Grande MES in South Portland, an Assisted Living facility. I love doing local events and big thanks to Maine Humanities Council for facilitating this as a Maine Speaks program.

It's Disability Pride Month and we have some recommended reading for you! Of course, we had to start with Fighting for Yes! by Maryann Cocca-Leffler, our children's read representing Maine at The Library of Congress National Book Festival. If you're looking for more reading on Judith Heumann, who's featured in Fighting for Yes!, you can check out her memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.

If you're inspired to read any of these books, we can't recommend enough applying for a Discussion Project. Maine Humanities provides books and facilitators to individuals and organizations all over Maine who want to convene members of their community to discuss things that matter to them.