Friday, July 5th at 6:00 pm. Free and open to the public. Registration is requested through the Maine Historical Society website.

From mainehistory.org:

What better way to spend a summer’s eve than by taking in some verse in one of Portland’s loveliest outdoor settings and the shadow of the home of its most celebrated writer? Join us for Poetry in the Longfellow Garden as local poet David Stankiewicz celebrates the launch of his latest collection, Night Garden, with poet friends Mike Bove, Betsy Sholl, and Kevin Sweeney. Following the reading, we invite you to stay for a while to enjoy the First Friday Art Walk and visit our exhibit Music in Maine!

About the presenters:

Mike Bove is the author of four books, most recently EYE (Spuyten Duyvil, 2023). He serves as a 2024 Writer-in-Residence at Acadia National Park and is Professor of English at Southern Maine Community College. Mike lives with his family in Portland, Maine where he was born and raised.

David Stankiewicz is the author of the poetry collections Night Garden and My First Beatrice. David grew up in Wayland, MA, and holds graduate degrees from Andover Newton Theological School and the Stonecoast MFA program. Since 2008, he has taught writing, literature, and ethics at Southern Maine Community College. He resides in Cape Elizabeth, Maine with his wife, two daughters, and dog.

Betsy Sholl's tenth collection of poetry is As If a Song Could Save You, University of Wisconsin Press, 2022, winner of the Four Lakes Prize. She teaches in the MFA in Writing Program of Vermont College of Fine Arts and served as Poet Laureate of Maine from 2006 to 2011.

Kevin Sweeney’s latest book is Imminent Tribulations from Moon Pie Press. He has taught at Southern Maine Community College since 1983 and is an assistant poetry editor at the Café Review for which he has done interviews with poets Carl Dennis, Kim Addonizio, Martin Esapda, Gerald Locklin, William Carpenter, and Margaret Randall.