Maine Historical Society hosts poets Estha Weiner and Betsy Sholl

On Wednesday, Aug. 4, the Maine Historical Society will host a poetry reading by author Estha Weiner and Betsy Sholl, Poet Laureate of Maine.

The society will offer a poetry and writing workshop with Weiner on Wednesday, Aug. 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

A multi-genre three-hour writing workshop will welcome attendees' poems, short fiction, plays and non-fiction. "Its only requirement is a fresh vision of Maine, past or present, an attentive ear and eye, and supportive feedback for fellow writers," MHS wrote. "(If you have work that has nothing to do with Maine, that's OK, too.) We will read and discuss each other's work, discuss the writing process, and participants will receive careful, helpful feedback, towards revision. Please bring 11 copies of your work. We may add a short in-class exercise or two, and discuss how you go through your day as a writer, even if you think you can't."

Registration is required by Friday, July 30. Fee: $100/person. MHS members/students: $75/person. For more information or to register, please email Weiner at esthalynne@hotmail.com.

At 5 p.m. that day, Weiner and Sholl will participate in a poetry reading. Weiner brings her newest book, "Transfiguration Begins At Home" (Tiger Bark Press 2009) back home to Portland, to read with Sholl. The public can hear the poets, who first met at The Stonecoast Writers Conference, weave their friendship and their poems as they consider how "home" shapes and shifts over time. Maine, of course, plays a key role in that: Weiner, a Portland native, moved away to go to college while Sholl moved here 27 years ago. A book signing will follow. For details, visit www.mainehistory.org.

Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at City College of New York, Weiner serves on the Board of Slapering Hol Press, Hudson Valley Writers Center and is founding director of Sarah Lawrence College NY Writers Nights. Sholl, Poet Laureate of Maine, has published seven collections of poetry, most recently "Rough Cradle" (Alice James Books, 2009). "Don't Explain" won the 1997 Felix Pollak Prize from the University of Wisconsin, and her book "The Red Line" won the 1991 AWP Prize for Poetry.  Sholl has been a visiting poet at the University of Pittsburgh and Bucknell University. She lives in Portland and teaches at the University of Southern Maine and in the MFA Program of Vermont College.