Author Talks in July
Beginning Tuesday July 13th the Belfast Free Library will host three Tuesday evening Author Talks. On the 13th Maine author Patricia Hughes will give an illustrated talk about her new book, “Maine’s Waterfalls: A Comprehensive Guide”, July 20th, author and illustrator Loretta Krupinski will give a slide presentation on her book, “Looking Astern: An Artist’s View of Maine’s Historic Working Waterfront”, and on July 27th a special poetry reading with four of the Maine poets featured in “Maine in Four Seasons: 20 Poets Celebrate the Turning Year” edited by Wesley McNair. Each program will begin at 6:30 pm and are free and open to the public. For more information call the library at 338-3884 ext.10.
Patricia Hughes’ book, “Maine’s Waterfalls: A Comprehensive Guide”, explores 177 waterfall sites found in all sixteen counties of Maine. In her presentation Hughes will describe how these waterfalls shaped Maine's history from prehistoric times to the present; how they were vital to survival for the first people living there—as travel challenges, hindrances to the logging industry, and as ambush spots for attacking Indians. They continue to be important to the economy today, not only as tourist destinations, but as a means to bring power to the state through the usage of dams. Her previous book, is “Lost Loot: Ghostly New England Treasure Tales,” explores treasure-rich and mysterious history of New England. Books will be available to purchase for signing at the program on Tuesday July 13th.
In her recently published book, “ Looking Astern: An Artist's View of Maine's Historic Waterfronts ” (Down East Books) nationally recognized maritime artist Loretta Krupinski's meticulously rendered oil paintings show fascinating details of Maine's waterfront towns in their heyday, when fishing, quarrying, and the cargo trade were the backbone of the coastal economy. Historic photographs and text about how Maine people made their living 70 to 150 years ago round out this rich and varied portrayal of a past way of life. Her slide show and talk on Tuesday July 20th at 6:30 pm is a great opportunity to hear one of Maine's premier artists discuss her recent work.
The poetry reading on the 27th of July will feature four poets from a new book titled “Maine in Four Seasons: 20 Poets Celebrate the Turning Year” (Down East Books) edited by Wesley McNair. Each of the participating poets has poems from a different season in the anthology and will read poetry about that season. Elizabeth Tibbetts will represent spring; Martin Stengesser, summer; Patricia Ranzoni, fall; and Kristen Lindquist, winter.
“Maine in Four Seasons” includes not only contemporary poets from around the state but a range of Maine’s earlier poets, from Longfellow to Robinson to Millay. The readers will sample some of the earlier work together with their own. The book’s illustrator, Jan Owen, will kick off the reading by showing some of her original work for the book and describing her creative process