Join us for the launch of Word 2024 with the annual Word.Art exhibit of visual art that includes or relates to the written word. Featured work is by Kristie Billings, Marechal Brown, Stu Kestenbaum and Susan Webster, Buzz Masters, Claire Millikin, Leslie Moore, Margaret Rizzio, Amy Tingle, Caroline Sulzer, Heidi Daub, and Patricia Wheeler. Spitfire, Millikin, and Billings will read during the opening at 6 pm, joined by Elizabeth Kirshner, one of two winners of the first Word Festival Writing Contest.
Free event
Reach Projects, in collaboration with the Blue Hill Public Library and Word, created a public project this summer called Search Engine. Working with multi-media artist Chris Doyle, residents created art inspired by a late night visit to the darkened library. The result has been transformed into a video that will be shown on the facade of the Cynthia Winnings Gallery. Search Engine was funded in part by a grant from the Onion Foundation.
Free event
What do you do when the world has lost its balance and your heroes are gone? Lev Grossman’s bestselling novel, The Bright Sword, is an Arthurian epic for our troubled times, the story of an idealistic young knight who arrives at Camelot ready to serve, only to find that King Arthur is dead and the Round Table is in shambles. With a rag-tag band of lesser knights and misfits, he sets out on a quest to make this ruined world whole again.
Grossman–author of the best-selling Magicians trilogy, basis for the TV series of the same title–will join Laura Miller, Slate books and culture columnist, to discuss the lasting power of our oldest myths and how to write about hope, heroism, and the dream of a better world.
Free event
Minquansis Sapiel will read from her book, Little People of the Dawn, and introduce her audience to the homes and food sources that the Little People rely on and that enrich our soil and natural surroundings. Weather permitting, a portion of the presentation will take place outside on the library grounds. Recommended for ages 5 to 10. Cosponsored by Blue Hill Public Library.
Free event
Life gets in the way of our art, all the time. A Mad Tea is a scheduled opportunity to work on your art and collaborate with other artists. Hosted by novelist, dancer, and songwriter MZ and modeled after European art salons, a Mad Tea is a creative workshop for artists to devote a couple of hours to their art, in whatever state it is in. You do not need to consider yourself an artist to join.
Free event
Artists of all ages are invited to join festival favorite Mia Bogyo to explore how we can use repurposed book pages and mixed media drawing, collage, and fiber techniques to create decorative, poetic verses.
Free event
Three celebrated middle-grade writers–Kate Albus, Megan E. Freeman, and Nancy Tandon–will explore the process of creative reinvention, describing their experiences of becoming traditionally published authors after many successful years in other careers. They will share what inspired their creative dreams and discuss some of the obstacles and opportunities they experienced along the path to publication.
Free event
The power of community supporting the art of poetry is ever present at Word’s annual POETRY ALIVE event. It’s an ideal opportunity to spend time with a variety of poetic voices. Please join us on Saturday, October 25, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. when we welcome the following poets to our stage: Kathleen Ellis, UMO Honors teacher and coordinator of Poets/Speak!; Dave Morrison, musician and author of 17 poetry collections; and Maya Williams former Poet Laureate of Portland, this year’s Ashley Bryant Fellow, and slam poet finalist.
Free event
Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is to imagine life on the other side. Marine biologist, policy advisor, and writer Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for the future of coastal cities, and co-creator of the podcast “How to Save a Planet.” Her new book, What if We Get It Right?, asks: What would the future look like if we forged ahead with all the solutions to actually address the climate crisis? Her answer is a collection of provocative and joyous maps to an inspiring landscape of possible climate futures. Dr. Johnson will be in conversation with Dr. Charles Rolsky, executive director of the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill.
Free event
David Nicholson's book, The Garretts of Columbia, is the product of years of research in archives and online, as well as a remarkable family story. It begins with the enslaved ancestor who bought freedom for himself, his wife and two of his children, and leads to Papa, a college professor and editor of three newspapers, and Mama, a supervisor of rural Black schools. Nicholson will talk with Jerry Edwards, A.K.A GeniusBlack, host of the podcast “Maine’s Black Future,” about the challenges and rewards of preserving the history of ordinary, extraordinary people in a world that too often chooses to forget.
Free event
Join Portland’s Emily Zack (MZ) and her dance company, Vivid Motion, in a lyrical interpretation of her debut novel, The Moorings of Mackerel Sky, the story of a small Maine fishing town haunted by the legend a mermaid and the captain who loved her.
Free event
