Leslie Bridgers

Columnist

Leslie Bridgers is a columnist for the Portland Press Herald, writing about Maine culture, customs and the things we notice and wonder about in our everyday lives. Originally from Connecticut, Leslie came to Maine by way of Bowdoin College and never left. She joined the Portland Press Herald in 2011 as a reporter and spent seven years as the paper’s features editor, overseeing coverage of arts, entertainment and food.

Do This, Food

Tap Lines: Where to find Maine’s best craft beer shops

by Catie Joyce-Bulay January 4, 2021December 30, 2020

In the city or at the mountain, there’s sure to be one somewhat nearby.

Arts & Entertainment, Review

Art review: Artists explore identity in ‘Splay’ at Able Baker

by Jorge S. Arango January 3, 2021December 28, 2020

The exhibit was conceived before the pandemic, but most of the work was made in 2020.

Food, Maine Gardener

Maine Gardener: Don’t delay in submitting seed orders

by Tom Atwell January 3, 2021January 2, 2021

Start scouring those seed catalogs before everything sells out.

Arts & Entertainment, Review

Tom Hanks stars in the broad-minded, bighearted Western ‘News of the World’

by Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post January 3, 2021December 29, 2020

The backdrop against which the action of “News of the World” unfolds is a Texas in transition. Set during Reconstruction, and starring Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd – an itinerant Confederate veteran who makes his meager living reading a curated selection of newspaper articles aloud to audiences for a dime a head – […]

Arts & Entertainment

Deep Water: ‘Cranes,’ by Martin Steingesser

January 3, 2021December 30, 2020

Maine poems edited and introduced by Megan Grumbling.

Vegan Kitchen

Vegan Kitchen: More people are resolving to start the year without animal products

by Avery Yale Kamila January 3, 2021January 2, 2021

Mainers are among the growing number of participants in Veganuary.

Arts & Entertainment

In ‘Bridgerton,’ Shonda Rhimes stakes a sumptuous, provocative claim on Netflix – and the traditional period drama

by Hank Stuever The Washington Post January 3, 2021December 29, 2020

No one can lay a special claim of ownership on the TV period drama. It is not sacred space or a part of a historical preservation act. It’s make-believe, and therefore communal property. The crunchy gravel, the chandeliers, the gardens, the grand foyers, the full-length gloves, the piano forte, the needlepoint, the riding boots, the […]

Arts & Entertainment, Review

This ‘Pinocchio’ is darker and more demented than you’re used to, but that’s true to the book

by Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post January 3, 2021December 29, 2020

What is it about “Pinocchio”? Italian writer Carlo Collodi’s 1883 children’s book – a fable about a wooden puppet who yearns to become a human boy but who must first prove himself worthy through selflessness – has been called a metaphor for the human condition. The story has proved resonant enough to receive numerous film […]