Past Events at The Poets Corner

2026 Events

Featured

Rupture & Repair: a reading with Katherine Larson and Miho Nonaki, hosted by Jefferson Navicky.

Larson and poet Miho Nonaka talk about their imagined realities and read from their work. Watch the recording and experience an afternoon of inspiration, thoughtfulness, and vision. Hosted by MHR Board Member Jefferson Navicky, all donations benefit Millay House Rockland.

To Phrase a Prayer for Peace, with Donna Sprujt-Metz and Mark S. Burrows.

The first poetry reading of the year at The Poets Corner—Donna Spruijt-Metz’ writing invites the reader to wish for peace with her and she and Mark Burrows explored some of the complexities that peace entails—between nations, between religions, in families, between friends.

2025 Events

Featured

Reading Rilke: A Conversation with Mark S. Burrows, Pádraig Ó Tuama, and Kayleen Asbo

Watch the recording of the 5th annual Reading Rilke event celebrating the visionary poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. It’s led again by poet and translator Mark S. Burrows, together with poet Pádraig Ó Tuama (host of the “Poetry Unbound” podcast), poet Kayleen Asbo.

Art & Ekphrastic Poetry Reading on The Poets Corner

Watch a video of the live ZOOM reading of our fifth annual ekphrastic challenge, a collaboration between Page Gallery and The Poets Corner. NOTE: You can view the work online HERE, before viewing.

Ten poets, along with students read their work on The Poets Corner on Sunday, November 9.

Every year, the poets and the artists carefully deliberate over the submissions and curate a delightful mix of responses for the virtual and in-gallery readings.

Jane Hirshfield: Opening the Hands from Here to Here

Out in paperback this fall, Jane’s latest The Asking: New and Selected Poems offers a signature investigation of the conditions, contradictions, uncertainties, and astonishments that shape our existence. Jane will read from poems old and new, and we’ll talk about the things that are important to her today as she reads and writes poetry and centers herself in the face of a world gone off-kilter.

Past & Present: In Conversation with Mark Doty, Diane Seuss, and Melissa McKinstry

Mark Doty, Diane Seuss, and Melissa McKinstry gathered to read some of their current poems, as well as poems written in response to poets or poems that they love. In a conversation with our host, Meg Weston, they spoke about writing, influences, and inspiration.

Arthur Sze on The Poets Corner

Like wind on a lake, current United States Poet Laureate, Arthur Sze’s twelfth book of poetry, Into the Hush (Copper Canyon Press, 2025), extends a language that ripples and stills, conjuring a cast of fruit trees and gunshots, butterflies and chemistry, animals and man.

Arthur joined us and read from this collection and other poems, and talked about his writing practice and the craft of poetry with our host, Meg Weston.

First Light: Poems for the New Year

The first poetry reading of the year at The Poets Corner—a poetry reading and discussion with five poets reading work to welcome in the new year in community, inviting in both joy and sorrow, and most importantly a chorus of uplifting voices. We’re joined by Margaret Haberman, Didi Jackson, Alison Luterman, Migwi Mwangi, and Maya Stein.

Contemplating Kinship: a presentation from The Poets Corner.

This multi-media event explores kinship through the voices of poets and writers who deepen their understanding of our experience of cicadas, whales, and the more-than-human world, and engage in a discussion about our connections—to others, to nature, and to the universe—revealing how these relationships shape our understanding of existence and shared experience.

We’re joined by Claire Millikin, Jane Pirone, David Baker and Mihku Paul.

Danusha Laméris on The Poets Corner

Danusha Laméris is a poet and essayist raised in Northern California, born to a Dutch father and Barbadian mother. She reads from her newest book, Blade by Blade (Copper Canyon Press, 2024), “these poems are luminous missives tossed on the wind asking us to re-enter the world we’ve forsaken, to set foot, as if for the first time, on the green earth and begin again.” She and Meg talk about form, stories and writing from grief.

The Lyric Essay: Shapeshifters of Language

The term Lyric Essay was first used in the early 1990s by poet and essayist Deborah Tall and was defined in the Seneca Review in 1997: “The lyric essay takes from the prose poem in its density and shapeliness, its distillation of ideas and musicality of language.”

We’re joined by 4 authors who’ve used the lyric essay in their own writing: Julie Marie Wade, Jill Talbot, Elissa Washuta, and Annaliese Jakimides.

2024 Events

Featured

Reading Rilke Today

Watch the recording of the 4th annual Reading Rilke event celebrating the visionary poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. It’s led again by poet and translator Mark S. Burrows, together with poet Pádraig Ó Tuama (host of the “Poetry Unbound” podcast), the conversation widens to welcome award-winning broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author Krista Tippett, founder of the “On Being” public radio show and podcast.

Art & Ekphrastic Poetry 2024 : poets' selection of poems

Watch the recording of the fourth annual Ekphrastic Poetry challenge, a collaboration between Page Gallery and The Poets Corner. The art is available for viewing online at Page Gallery’s website.

Twelve poets, including two fifth grade students, were selected to read their poems on The Poets Corner over Zoom.

Billy Collins on The Poets Corner

Billy Collins, two term U.S. Poet Laureate, author of thirteen books of poetry, and one of the most popular poets in American today, joined us on The Poets Corner on October 20, 2024. Watch the video anytime!

“Billy Collins is the class clown in the schoolhouse of American poetry. It's earned him a rare spot between critical respect and wide appeal.” —Poets.org Academy of American Poets

Learn more about Billy Collins here.

To the Point and Back: Swimming Poems with Margaret Haberman and Meg Weston

In the summer of 2023 two friends decided to write a poem every time they swam—the result is this wonderful book we want to share with you! It’s a series of love letters to the water, to swimming, and to friendship.

Watch the recording and be inspired by the poetry of friendship with Meg and Margaret, you’ll have fun even if you never had any inclination to go swimming!

Finale! A Reading with Our Finalists

A reading with the finalists from the 2024 Chapbook Competition.

Molly Bolton, 2024 Chapbook Contest Winner

This reading with 2024 winner Molly Bolton was hosted by distinguished poet, Marie Howe, the judge for 2024's chapbook competition.

Of Molly’s writing, Marie said: “All the world at once is what is held in the lines of these poems: the birthers, the babies who will not live, the faces of flowers, the stones . . . and from it comes poetry that will plead and mourn and hunger and bless. I returned again and again to these poems and was nourished.”

Leaning Toward Light: Poems for gardens & the hands that tend them

We’re delighted to offer a reading from a beautiful new anthology, hosted by the editor: Tess Taylor, reading along with poets: David Baker, Sophie Cabot Black, Mark Doty, Kirun Kapur, and Danusha Laméris.

Learn more about these poets here.

Essential Queer Voices

Essential Queer Voices of U.S. Poetry from Green Linden Press features over 100 poets who illuminate the queer experience in the U.S. Joining editor & publisher Christopher Nelson on The Poets Corner will be the following major voices in American poetry today: Rick Barot, Ellen Bass, Richard Blanco, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Charif Shanahan.

Ochre & Rust: The Poetry of Sergey Gandlevsky

Join us for a reading and discussion of the poetry of Sergey Gandlevsky, translated by Philip Metres, published by Green Linden Press. Sergey Gandlevsky is one of the most celebrated contemporary Russian poets. A Russian critics’ poll in the 2000s named him the country’s most important living poet. A lifelong Muscovite, Gandlevsky has relocated to the Republic of Georgia since the war in Ukraine began.

Richard Blanco on The Poets Corner

Join us for this special reading and conversation with Richard Blanco as he shares his new book: Homeland of My Body—a rich, accomplished, intensely intimate collection with two full sections of new poems bookending Blanco’s selections from his five previous volumes.

The Nine Poets Collective

In 2024, DownEast books will launch a new literary journal, The Maine Standard, The Nine Poets Collective will be featured with selections of poems that speak to each of their “Obsessions” with an introduction by presidential inaugural poet, Richard Blanco. On January 14th join us to celebrate the upcoming launch of The Maine Standard with readings from The Nine Poets Collective.

Learn more about the Nine Poets here.

2023 Events

Featured

Words from the West

Spencer Reece, an episcopal priest and a poet who has lived in Spain, Honduras, Connecticut and now Rhode Island, and Matt Daly, creative writing teacher and poet from Wyoming, zoom in together from Wyoming for this reading.

Reading Rilke Today: A Conversation

Rilke’s poems and writing remind us of what it means to “bear witness” to life in those “dark hours” we face when we experience things “falling asunder.” He also invites us to “dance the orange,” celebrating the exuberant beauty that shines, even in the darkness.

Award-winning Rilke translator and poet, Mark S. Burrows, is joined by poets Pádraig Ó Tuama and Marie Howe to share selected Rilke poems.

Art & Ekphrastic Poetry 2023

For this collaborative, creative event, poets submitted poems written in response to a painting or photograph in the Page Gallery exhibition: Art & Ekphrastic Poetry.

Ten poets were selected to read on The Poets Corner zoom event on Sunday, November 12th; another ten poems were selected by the artists and read live in the gallery on Saturday, November 18th, 2023.

Obsessions & Harmonies

Meg Weston reads from her first full-length collection of poems, Magma Intrusions, along with Betsy Sholl, former Maine Poet Laureate, who reads from her tenth collection, As If a Song Could Save You. The readings are followed by a conversation about the obsessions and harmonies in their poems; poetic influences and writing practices; and other topics that intrigue us as poets.

Disclosures: Kathleen Ellis and Claire Millikin

Join us as Kathleen Ellis reads from her new book Body of Evidence, winner of the 2022 Grayson Books Poetry Contest, and Claire Millikin reads from Elegiaca Americana and Transitional Objects - her two books just published in the past six months.

Clock of Cream and Flame: Mothers on Motherhood

Join poets Katherine Hagopian Berry, Sonia Greenfield, Abby Murray and Meghan Sterling as they look closely at the role of mother, reading their poems that celebrate, and reveal, the complex experience of motherhood.

Meet the poets here.

“Malama 'Aina” honor the earth

In 2023 our Eco-Poetry reading was open for submissions. Poems were selected to be read on The Poets Corner with John Paul Caponigro and Meg Weston as co-hosts.

The Wandering Radiance with Mark S. Burrows

The Poets Corner welcomes Mark S. Burrows to present his newly published volume of poems by the German-Jewish poet Hilde Domin (1909 – 2006), The Wandering Radiance: Selected Poems of Hilde Domin.

What does it mean to live with hospitality towards others? To go back to a place where we’ve been betrayed and create beauty?What more daring thing can we do after facing horror and trauma than to make art?How does our longing for "homeland" bring us hope, even in exile?

STORY! with Morgan Talty and Laura Bonazzoli

Guests were in for a treat as these two Maine writers—Morgan Talty and Laura Bonazzoli—shared with us the pleasures that flow from their short stories. While each story stands alone, together each of these books forms a story-cycle revealing new truths and enhancing our understanding of people and place.

Love Letters

2023’s annual Valentine’s Day reading is LOVE LETTERS – submissions of epistolary poems. This follows an ancient tradition since some of the earliest forms of epistolary poems, or poems that read as letters, were love letters such as Ovid’s Heroides—love letters from the great women of antiquity. Hear poems selected for originality, wit, humor, pathos, and passion, but not sentimentality, on The Poets Corner.

Poems from the Night Skies

The stars shine on The Poets Corner with an event featuring filmmaker Tara Roberts Zabriskie who documented Maine’s efforts to “save the stars” in her film “Defending the Dark.” We show a trailer from the film, and hear about the efforts of Dark Sky Maine.

Learn more about our guests here.

2022 Events

Featured

Pop-Up Poetry: Letters from the White Queen

A Pop-Up Poetry reading featuring Meg Weston reading from her book, Letters from the White Queen.

Celebrating Rilke

Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama and award-winning author Barbara Mahany join Mark S. Burrows for a conversation about Rilke’s poems and writings that remind them of what it means to “bear witness”—to life in those “dark hours” we face when we experience things “falling asunder.” Each of these writers read and talk about selected poems of Rilke’s that have challenged or inspired them.

Ekphrastic Pairings

For this event, poets submitted work in response to a painting or photography in the exhibit at The Page Gallery, October 20-November 19th. Poets selected to read include: Sheila Aldous, Matt Bernier, Beth Fox, Margaret Haberman, Annaliese Jakimides, Judy Kaber, Kathleen March, Robbi Nester, Lindsay Rockwell, Nancy Sobonik, Meghan Sterling, and A Garnett Weiss.

New Voices Rising

Hear the voices of young poets as they express their views of our world. The poets are University of Maine students active in campus creative writing activities and the campus literary magazine, The Open Field. Readings are followed by a conversation among the poets facilitated by Kathleen Ellis and John Paul Caponigro, and Q&A from the audience. Poets reading include Samuel Mills, Iris Lecates, Paige McHatten, Starla Straub, and Rachel Ouellette.

Black Coffee: A Conversation with Ellen Bass

In conversation with The Poets Corner founder Meg Weston, Ellen Bass talks about the craft of poetry, her creative process, influences, and recurring themes that appear in her poems and intrigue her in the poems of others. She reads from her various collections, including the most recent, Indigo.

Finale! In celebration of our chapbook finalists

Out of 250 submissions to The Poets Corner and Maine Media 2022 Chapbook Contest, 10 rose to the surface as our finalist choices. Eight of these poets read from their chapbooks. Listen to the innovative ideas, lyrical language, and thematic concerns of these poets. Each poet was introduced by one of our readers in a fast-paced, fascinating presentation that we hope will inspire you.

Reading with Poetry Chapbook Winner Jeffrey Bean

Chapbook Contest judge, distinguished poet Naomi Shihab Nye, selected Ella’s Plan by Jeffrey Bean saying, “I could not look away from these magical poems.” Watch this reading with Jeffrey Bean, hosted by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Poetry Week Poets

The Writers Harbor® Poetry Week at Maine Media event in June 2022 featured three amazing poets: Richard Blanco, Carrie Fountain, and Rajiv Mohabir. They met virtually on The Poets Corner for a special reading and conversation on Sunday, May 1st from 4:00-5:30.

Ecopoetry - Voices for the Future

Cohosts Meg Weston and John Paul Caponigro joined Kathleen Ellis, Gary Lawless, Iris Elise L, and Meghan Sterling in a celebration of our place in nature by Maine poets.

Wordplay: Poems with a Sense of Humor

David Jewell co-hosts with Meg Weston to bring you an afternoon of wit, whimsy and whackiness and welcome the spring equinox. Special guest Kevin Pilkington joins to read a couple of his playful poems.

No limericks allowed, just selections of poetry and short prose that employ humor for fresh perspectives.

Love is Still Possible

Three poets read and discussed contemporary love poems for February's event, Love is Still Possible: Margaret Haberman, Gibson Faye-LeBlanc, and Anna Limontas-Salisbury.

Poems for Healing

This first reading of the year featured Ellen Goldsmith reading from her recently published collection LEFT FOOT, RIGHT FOOT. Lynne Ellis, a West Coast poet, also read from her poetry that addresses the body, health, and healing. The conversation touched on writing and reading poetry as a path to healing.

2021 Events

Featured

Poetry in Motion

An ekphrastic poetry collaboration between The Poets Corner and Page Gallery in Camden, Maine. Making connections between visual art and poetry to deepen our experience.

Hear readings from the ten poets whose poems, inspired by the work on exhibition at Page Gallery, were chosen by The Poets Corner to be shared at this event.

Reading Rilke

Join Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama and American poet Laura Reece Hogan together with Australian writer Stephanie Dowrick for a conversation about Rilke’s poems, hosted by the award-winning Rilke translator, scholar, and poet Mark S. Burrows. Each will read and talk about poems that have influenced their lives and work, probing what Rilke called “words ripening in the silences.”

Summertime, and the Living is Easy: Open Mic

In celebration of summer, hear from a variety of readers who read for our the first OPEN MIC on The Poets Corner. Hosted by the fabulous Elvis and the Mopes, this was truly a reading to remember!

Richard Blanco, Tess Taylor and Rick Barot

Richard Blanco, Tess Taylor, and Rick Barot joined The Poets Corner to kick off Maine Media’s The Writers Harbor® Poetry Week. These three amazing poets joined us in celebration of the one year anniversary of The Poets Corner.

Readings from Enough!

"We do not speak with one voice but with many."

Enough! edited by Claire Millikin and Agnes Bushell, is a collection of poems, by Maine poets, about resistance and protest. Ten poets from this collection joined The Poets Corner to read on April 11th: Claire Millikin, Donna Loring, Laura Bonazzoli, Katherine Hagopian Berry, Ellen Goldsmith, Lois Anne, Carol Bachofner, Meghan Sterling, Kathleen Ellis, and Myronn Hardy.

The Art of the Book

For "The Art of the Book" on The Poets Corner, Cig Harvey, Richard Reitz Smith, and Meg Weston read from their work and discussed book design, creation, and publishing.

Love Unmasked

LOVE UNMASKED: a Valentine's Day reading.

The Poets Corner received almost 100 submissions and curated selections based on different aspects of love, welcoming a diversity of voices, ideas, and approaches into the mix. A total of 17 readers were selected for this event.

Natalie Goldberg

Natalie Goldberg, author of fifteen books including the best-seller Writing Down the Bones and recently released Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage Into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku, reads on The Poets Corner to kick off the New Year 2021. Joining her are five accomplished writers who have worked with Natalie for many years: Carolyn Cervantes Antonio, Dara Kalima Marsh, Armely Maras, Dorotea Mendoza, and Aomawa Shields.

2020 Events

Featured

Fire and ice

Meg Weston and John Paul Caponigro share poems and images of fire and ice.

Kevin Pilkington and Friends

Kevin Pilkington, NYC poet and author of nine poetry collections, reads along with these accomplished poets who have taken his workshops at Maine Media Workshops + College: Alexandra Beers, David Jewell, Bonnie Larson Staiger, and Lucinda Watson. Kevin and Meg co-facilitate the conversation among the poets.

Poets from the British Isles

This reading featured poets from England and Ireland, with conversations facilitated by Mark S. Burrows.

Five Poets II

Reading featuring five poets, including Betsy Sholl, former poet laureate of Maine and author of nine books of poetry, Éireann Lorsung, a 2016 NEA Fellow in Prose and author of three collections of poetry, along with Moon Machar, a spoken word poet who in an instructor in the after-school program at The Telling Room and two authors from The Telling Room Young Emerging Authors program: Emma Dawson-Webb and Lulu Rasor, both of whom had their first poetry collections recently published.

Prose Poetry and Short Prose

Reading featuring short prose and prose poetry: Eric Evans, Judy O’Dell, and more to be announced. Q&A and Discussion following the reading.

Learn more about these poets here.

Five Poets

Reading featuring five poets: Laura Bonazzoli, Gibson Faye-LeBlanc, Ellen Goldsmith, Mihku Paul, and Bruce Spang. Q&A and Discussion after the reading.

Learn more about these poets here.

The Poets Corner Inaugural Reading

This inaugural Poets Corner Reading features Mark Burrows, Margaret Haberman, Tom Sperduto, Sandy Weisman, and Sal Taylor Kydd.

Learn more about these poets here.

Past Events at The Poets Corner

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