This week

• National Poetry Series winner Erika Meitner will read and sign copies of her books at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in The Landing in the University of Maine at Farmington’s Olsen Student Center. The event is free as part of the university’s visiting writers series.

Recognized as “the new voice of intelligent and emotional poems,” Meitner was chosen as a winner for the 2009 National Poetry Series for her second published work, “Ideal Cities” (HarperCollins, 2010). Her first book, “Inventory at the All-Night Drugstore” (Anhinga Press, 2003), won the 2002 Anhinga Prize for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2004 Paterson Poetry Prize. “Makeshift Instructions for Vigilant Girls,” her third book, will be out later this month.

Meitner has received numerous fellowships, including at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Blue Mountain Center and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and was named the Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. Her poems have been published in The Southern Review, Slate, Prairie Schooner, The Kenyon Review, Tin House, The New Republic and American Poetry Review.

Meitner teaches English at Virginia Tech and is pursuing her doctorate in religious studies at the University of Virginia. 

Next week

Advertisement

• Add Verb Productions presents a free public performance of “You the Man,” a nationally touring production empowering bystanders to help friends or family members dealing with abuse or violence. The event will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Deering High School Auditorium in Portland, and is hosted by Deering’s Student Outreach Team. Admission is free. The school is at 370 Stevens Ave.

The event coincides with the news that Add Verb has become part of the Westbrook College of Health Professions at the University of New England’s Portland Campus, advancing interdisciplinary training for UNE students in the health professions. Add Verb and UNE have been partners in health and wellness education using theater for a decade.

“You the Man” has traveled to 25 states, Bermuda and Japan. It is a 30-minute, one-man show intended to help people not only recognize if a friend or family member is dealing with abuse or violence, but to know how to best support them. 

Coming up

• In celebration of National Youth Art Month, the Portland Museum of Art in collaboration with the Maine Art Education Association has organized an exhibition of artwork created by Maine students that will run March 1 to April 3. The exhibition will showcase more than 100 works by students of all ages from throughout the state. All participating students will receive certificates of recognition. This year celebrates the 31st anniversary of Youth Art Month exhibitions in Maine, and the 17th annual show at the museum.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.