NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

University of New England Professor Emeritus Norman Beaupre Receives French Medal of Honor for Arts and Literature – Professor Emeritus Norman Beaupré was decorated with the Medal of the Order of Arts and Literature, Grade Officier by the French Ministry of Culture and Communications. The Order is one of the principal decorations conferred by the French Republic to honor individuals who have distinguished themselves by contributions to the influence of the arts and literature internationally. The Consul General of France in Boston, Monsieur François Gauthier, presented the medal to Beaupré at this year's La Kermesse celebration on June 29th. (Beaupré was the festivals first president.) Céline Dion, George Clooney, William Faulkner and Rudolf Nureyev also received this award. As a French-speaking Biddeford native, Beauprés subject matter frequently comes from his personal experiences as a Franco-American. Having taught Francophone and World Literature at the University of New England for 30 years, Beaupré spent two sabbaticals in Europe where he got the inspiration for several of his books. He has written nine books thus far, with several of them drawing on the Franco-American experience. In March 2007, Beaupre was inducted in Maine's Franco-American Hall of Fame by the Maine Legislature during Francophone Week. Beauprés most recent work is the sequel to his successful play "La Souillonne", a one-woman story about the Franco-American experience, which was published this spring by LLumina Press. Beaupré wrote a sequel which was presented this past summer in Lamèque, New Brunswick, to a sell-out crowd. "La Souillone, Deusse", focuses on vignettes about the Acadian way of life and is written entirely in the Franco-American dialect, the language of the people, a challenge for Beaupré since this dialect is essentially an oral language and he had to replicate the sounds into written form. Beaupré is already at work on a tenth project, a novel based on the artistic life of Vincent Van Gogh in Arles. For more information about Norman Beaupré: www.nrbeaupre.com.

"Between the Lines" Poetry Workshop at the Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, beginning August 4th - Award-winning poet Kathleen Lignell Ellis will conduct the thirteenth annual poetry writing workshop as part of the museum's summer course offerings. For complete information, see ELLIS.

BOOKS, MAGAZINE ISSUES

east to west - summer 08 features Helm Filipowitsch's poetry with photography by Don Schaeffer and collages of Linda Sienkiewicz. "Graffiti" poets James Lineberger, Jim Knowles, Pris Campbell, Jim Deuchars, Gil Helmick, Courtney Campbell, Linda Sienkiewicz, & Ray Sweatman. Link: http://www.geocities.com/pj_nights/ Note the "bookshelves" portal with links to chapbooks of current and past contributors. Add your chapbook to this list by emailing PJ Nights: PJNIGHTS. Download the summer issuefree as a pdf or purchase the book at cost, both from lulu.com (click "current issue" on the home page). Feel free to email PJ if you have viewing problems. east/west is looking for featured poets and artists for fall and poems about "time". http://www.geocities.com/pj_nights/submissions.html

Tom Fallon's redesigned web pages are at NOW – "NOW", a volume of poetry and experimental work, is unusual in Maine, available at Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick; Books Etc in Portland; Sherman's Books and Stationery in Bar Harbor, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Freeport and Northeast Harbor; Devaney Doak and Garrett in Farmington and the Village Books in Washington. Order HERE via the security of PayPal using your credit card. It is also available from Amazon.

Moon Pie Press proudly announces the publication of its 41st book, "Drowning: A Poetry Memoir", by Maine's own Claire Hersom. The book will be on the Moon Pie Press website soon, and will be available at Longfellow Books in Portland.  Email us at moonpiepress@yahoo.com with any questions, or to order it hot off the press !

Baron Wormser, former Maine poet laureate, has not one book, but three books out - the paperback version of "The Road Washes Out in Spring", "Scattered Chapters: New and Selected Poems", and "The Poetry Life: Ten Stories". Hit your independent Maine bookstore for your copies!

Robert Chute has a new book, "Settling In", a prose poem history of the settlement of Windham, Maine, where his ancestor, Thomas Chute was the first settler. Published by JustWrite Books, available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Take a look at Poets and Writers magazine at this link: http://www.pw.org This magazine is an invaluable resource for writers.

Words that Impact - July 7-11th there will be 2 writing workshops at Waterfall Arts in Montville, Maine. www.waterfallarts.org or Tel. 338-2222. Poetry: The Intimacy of Place, with Joel Lipman, from 9 AM-Noon. Fee:$110. Materials list provided. "Intimacy" encourages and enables a sense of the poet's emotional, sensed/sensual, or personal connection to the specific place. The workshop will use source poems as models and launching points, utilize instructor- developed prompts and have an ongoing and outcome objective of the development of original poems by participants. The workshop will discuss one another's work under development and also discuss instructional materials. Joel comes from the University of Toledo in Ohio. The second workshop: The Printed Voice, with Paul Oberst. Monday through Friday July 7-11 afternoons from 1-4 PM. Fee: $110, all materials provided.An exploration of the power of the printed word on paper, cloth and or sculpture. Students develop personal, direct printing techniques to create finished works of art. Paul’s artwork is simple, direct, honest, primal, layered, meditative, accessible and mysterious. Paul comes to Waterfall Arts with extensive preparatory, teaching, and curating experience from the Cleveland Center of Contemporary Art.

Maine Playwright’s Lab by Suze Allen- July 12th and 19th, 3-7 PM - Find the heart of your play. Write sharper and energized dialogue. Weave the psychological, emotional and physical action of your piece into the fabric of your character’s journey.  Lots of writing exercises to get you fired up on the road to character and  plot discovery.  Editing and one on one feedback by the instructor. You won't have this much fun all summer! Bring 2 scenes up to 20 pages per workshop $125 for each workshop  $200 for two. Suze Allen is a freelance writer, playwright, actor, teacher, dramaturge and director with work on stage at Brava! For Women in the Arts, The Marsh, Noh Space, Intersection for the Arts, The Climate, The Phoenix Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Out North Alaska, Mad Horse Theatre and the SF and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals.  Suze is the creator of The Maine Playwrights' Lab and Short Works Festival, Fresh! New Works, as well as Dramaturge for The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco. Her short play, "Dry Rot", received a staged reading at the Off-Market Theatre as part of the Playwrights' Center of SF's Fall Season.  Her new solo show, "The Manic Mama Dance", premiered at the Marsh Café in June in San Francisco. Suze recently dramaturged Karmo and Jerry Sander's musical "The Gold Rush Girls" for The Boston Playwrights' Lab, novelist Mike Kimball's "The Secret of Comedy", which premiered at The Player's Ring in New Hampshire, and Lynne Cullen's "Ragana, Mistress of Illusion", for the Cassandra Project in Portland, Maine. She's a staff writer for sfkids.org and Interaction Associates in San Francisco and Mom to Zeke and Hattie Rose. Suze is currently working on the book, "The Time Starved Women's Guide to Emotional Wellbeing" with Dr. SD Shantinath of Woman-to-Woman International, Zurich, Switzerland.

At Bowdoin College, Josephine Cameron will teach "Fiction Writing for Kids" (grades 4-6), July 14-18, 1:30-5:00 PM. Fee: $135/child; $115 sibling rate. The week-long program for kids entering grades 4-6 teaches the basics of fiction writing, including Character, Plot, Revision, and Imaginative Writing. This year's session will concentrate on creating interesting, 3-dimensional characters and developing a successful story arc. Students will develop a story from start to finish, present their work to the class, and participate in peer feedback sessions. FMI, or to download a registration form, visit http://www.songwritingforkids.com. Also, a workshop, "Songwriting for Kids" (K-3), July 14-18, 2008, 8:30 AM-12:00 PM, at Bowdoin College. Fee: $135/child; $115 sibling rate. This is a week-long program designed to teach children in grades K-3 how a song is put together. Students learn and analyze traditional folk songs for rhythm, rhyme, song structure, lyrics, and melody, using what they've learned to write an original song as a group. This is a class focused on fun and creativity, incorporating games & lots of singing. All levels of musical knowledge are welcome, no previous musical experience is necessary. FMI, or to download a registration form, visit http://www.songwritingforkids.com

Midcoast Life, published by Coastal Journal, seeking submissions by July 15th. ML will dedicate its November issue to Maine authors with short stories/fiction and poetry by both adult writers, as well as high school writers whose work has been submitted by a teacher or counselor. Nancy Randolph, of Just Write Books, will serve as guest publisher, and Herb R. Coursen, as guest editor. Submit 2 poems and/or one short per person, one copy, typed or wordprocessed, double spaced, to: Just Write Books, 14 Munroe Lane, Topsham 04086. Include your name, town of residency, email address, on each printed work. We will ask for an electronic copy if your submission is chosen for publication from your computer. Include your name and email address. Do NOT send a self addressed stamped envelope. All entries not chosen will be shredded and recycled. Selected writers and those not chosen will be notified by email. Work must be postmarked by July 15th. Accepted writers will be notified by August 15. Please do not call to find out whether we have received your work or if we are planning to publish it. All decisions by editor and publisher are final. Published authors/poets will receive two copies of the publication. Word count for short story/fiction is 4,500. Line count for poetry is 30.
See the link, Maine Literary Magazines.