LEWISTON — Guthries Independent Theater and the Lewiston Public Library will host a stop of the 2014-15 Maine Poetry Express, an initiative of Maine Poet Laureate Wesley McNair and the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.
The event takes place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 22, is free and open to the public. Guthries is at 22 Park St.
The Maine Poetry Express, a metaphoric train in its second statewide journey, is traveling to a series of stops this spring, bringing together Maine poets and townspeople for shared readings that combine poetry with testimonies about its relevance to the lives and concerns of all people.
“The primary goal of the Maine Poetry Express,” McNair said in a prepared statement, “is to show that poetry belongs not only to literary specialists but to all of us. This promises to be an evening of poetry as you’ve never heard it before.”
The event is being organized locally by Heather Letourneau, co-owner of Guthries, and Rick Speer, director of the Lewiston Public Library. The program will begin with opening remarks by McNair, who will be joined by fellow Maine poets Rob Farnsworth and Terry Grasse for a shared reading of poetry. Then five special guest readers, all from Lewiston, will take the stage: Jon Assam, Calvin Dube, Devon Irish, Lillian O’Brien and Monique Paris.
The Maine Poetry Express is made possible thanks in part to support from the Maine Arts Commission. For more information, contact LPL’s Adult Services Department at LPLReference@Gmail.com or 513-3135; or the Maine Writer’s & Publisher’s Alliance at director@mainewriters.org or 228-8264.
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