New Collaboration with Freshwater Arts

July 25 ($60)
Maine Word will offer a poetry class in collaboration with Freshwater Arts in Waterville. The class has been designed to welcome the new or experienced poet and will feature a balance of instruction, writing exercises and feedback. Participants will have the opportunity to expand their poetic voice with new ideas, poetic starts and inspiration.

Wednesdays in July ($100)
In addition, Maine Word will also offer a short creative workshop on Wednesday evenings in July at the Freshwater Arts complex in Waterville. This class will provide the time and stucture needed to complete your summer writing project.

For more information about these two classes or to register, please contact http://www.freshwaterarts.org/.

Congratulations to Nathaniel Smith

Nathaniel Smith, a 2nd grader at the Phillips Elementary School, was recently selected as the 2009 Winner of the Maine Word Poetry Contest for his poem Western Maine. As the first place winner, Smith received a copy of Shel Silverstein's poetry book A Light in the Attic. Maine Word would also like to recognize teacher Dawn Maceda for her efforts to encourage her students to participate in this year's contest!

Western Maine
By Nathaniel Smith

Summer is fun.
The rain is gone.
Animals are eating all day long!
Here comes Fall, let's have a ball.
Here comes a scarecrow.
He is so scary.
He'll be stuffed with those leaves
you raked up in a hurry.
Next comes winter,
then comes Spring!
The snow will melt,
out comes the flowers.
Kids play outside for hours and hours.
I think I hear a peeptoad out on a log.
Oh, LOOK! there is a moose out in my bog!

Poetry Contest for Students of Phillips Elementary School

In honor of National Poetry month (April), Maine Word will host a poetry writing contest for children in kindergarten through eighth grade at Phillips Elementary School.

Maine Word hopes to inspire students to explore their creativity through poetry and to highlight the diverse imagination of our children. Winning poets will be invited to read their poems at a ceremony for the public on Saturday, April 25th at the Phillips Public Library.

Poetry books donated by Maine Word will be awarded to the contest winners and the authors' winning entries will be placed on the Maine Word website and may appear in local newspapers.

All poems will be on displayed at the Phillips Public Library from April 18 - May 2, 2009.
Entries will be judged in three different age categories (K – Grade 2, Grades 3-5 and Grades 6-8). The contest theme is “Living in Western Maine” and the poem may take any form. The submission deadline for the contest is Saturday, April 14. To enter, students should send one poem along with their complete name, grade, address and telephone number to Maine Word, 39 Reeds Mill Road in Madrid, ME 04966.

This event is sponsored by Maine Word and is NOT a school-sponsored event. If parents or students have any questions about the poetry contest, please contact Caroline King at 491-9810.

Poetry Workshop in Belgrade

BELGRADE– Maine Word will offer a Poetry Workshop in Belgrade on March 14th from 9A -12P. If your writing has become frozen over the long Maine winter, this workshop is sure to provide you with a fresh perspective and tap into some of the creative energy of spring. The workshop facilitated by Caroline King will offer a mix of structured time with writing exercises and prompts and an opportunity to workshop your poetry. Those in attendance can expect to take away new ideas, poetic starts, and inspiration for the spring.

The Poetry Workshop cost is only $16, but pre-registration is required to ensure your place at the table. The Poetry Workshop will be held at the Lazy Lab Café which is located at 81 Main Street (Route 27) in Belgrade. The Lazy Lab Café offers the perfect relaxed setting for this special event which will be held on the café’s second floor.

For more information or to register for the Poetry Workshop, please contact Maine Word at their website www.maineword.com or call Caroline King at 491-9810.

Winter Poetry Retreat

Winter Poetry Retreat in Madrid

MADRID – Maine Word will offer a Winter Poetry Retreat with guest poet Doug Woodsum of Smithfield in February.

The Winter Poetry Retreat will be February 20 - 22 at the Star Barn Bed and Breakfast in Madrid. This special weekend retreat will allow writers from around the region to explore and develop their poetic voice.

The retreat will provide poets a weekend to focus on their writing amidst the natural beauty and silence of the winter landscape at the Star Barn Bed and Breakfast.

The Retreat will offer a mix of structured time with writing exercises and prompts, poetry readings and workshop critiques of their poetry, along with an opportunity to meet individually with published authors Doug Woodsum and Caroline King and plenty of free time to write and relax during a weekend dedicated to poetry.

Those in attendance can expect to take away new ideas, poems, inspiration, and tools from the weekend and will have the opportunity to improve their existing work and to expand their poetic network.

For more information or to register for the Winter Poetry Retreat, please contact Maine Word at their website http://www.maineword.com/ or call Caroline King at 207-491-9810.