Category: Writers Forum

Writers?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ Forum is hosted by Dr. Betty Parker Duff and is a new program at WERU designed to bring you the voices of Maine writers from all over the state but especially from the coastal region.

Writers Forum 4/14/11

Producer/Host: Joan Clemons
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: Maine-based writers reading from and discussing their work

Guests:
Tawanda Chabikwa is a contemporary Zimbabwean artist and scholar. He works with both studio and performance art and recently published his first novel, Baobabs in Heaven, an outgrowth of his senior college project at College of the Atlantic. It’s a fictitious story but rooted in the truth of his experiences. Chabikwa is also the founder of the outreach organization rndini wako that works to fund the education of HIV/AIDS orphans and affected children in rural Zimbabwe. He currently lives in Deer Isle while applying to doctorate programs in dance and working on his second novel. FMI: www.ndiniwako.org

Jeff Foltz recently published his first novel, Birkebeiner, a Story of Motherhood and War, an historical tale of a mother’s compulsion to protect her child in 13th century Norway. Foltz is himself a skilled Nordic Skier and actually skied some of the territory described in his book. Foltz lives in Camden. FMI: www.birkebeinerthenovel.com

Sharon Bray is a freelance journalist, photographer, poet, forager, and farmer. Her work has appeared in journals, newspapers, and anthologies. She founded The Enterprise, Bucksport’s weekly newspaper and published it from 1992 to 2001. Since 2002, she has published 10 issues of the Narramissic Notebook–a journal of poetry and community stories, illustrated with old pictures. Bray is a member of the Down East Salt Coast Sages and has a section of her poems in their chapbook, titled A Rump-Sprung Chair and a a One-Eyed Cat. Bray is also a member of the Maine Poets Society and has had poems in two of their anthologies. Bray lies in Orland. FMI: www.saltcoastsages.com

Writers Forum 2/10/11

Producer/Host: Joan Clemons
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: The works of the 4 writers listed- short stories, poetry, essays

How writers get started writing? How valuable are writers groups? Where do writers get their inspiration?

Guests: Cynthia Rainfrette-Barlow, crbarlow@tidewater.net; Sharon Bray, mainesbray@gmail.com; Thomas R. Moore, www.FortHemlockPress.com

Writers Forum 1/13/11

Producer/Host: Joan Clemons
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: Writing

How much time does it take to write a book? How do you feel about the business/marketing side of writing? How do you fit writing into a busy life–job, children, etc?

Guests:
Paul Doiron, author of The Poacher’s Son , www.pauldoiron.com
Vicki Doudera, author of A House to Die For and Killer Listing , www.vickidoudera.com

Writers Forum 11/11/10

Producer/Host: Joan Clemons
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: Writing- prose

What is island living like? Why some students shouldn’t go to college? How did these writers get started writing?

Guests:
Eva Murray, murray@midcoast.com, www.safelyouttosea.com
Robert Klose, klose@maine.edu

Eva Murray moved from the Rockland area to Matinicus Island in 1987 after being hired to teach at the island’s one-room school. Two years later, after marrying the island electrician, she stayed on to raise their family. Over the years, Murray has become an emergency medical technician, operated a small bakery, begun the community recyling program, been first responder to emergencies both real and imagined, and undertaken a number of roles in municipal government and other local organizations. Since 2003, she has been a regular columnist for several publications, including Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, Working Waterfront, Village Soup (Rockland), The Free Press, and Down East Online. Well out to Sea–Year-Round on Matinicus Island, her first book, is a collection of short essays describing life there from the perspective of someone who has never spent a single day of vacation on the Island.

Robert Klose lives on the banks of the Penobscot River in Orono. He divides his time between his two adoptive sons from Russia and the Ukraine, teaching biology at University College of Bangor, and writing essays for The Christian Science Monitor. Besides his newly-released book, The Three-Legged Woman & Other Excursions in Education, he is the author of two previous books, Adopting Alyosha — A Single Man Finds a Son in Russia, and Small Worlds — Adopted Sons, Pet Piranhas & Other Mortal Concerns. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, The Boston Globe, Reader’s Digest, Exquisite Corpse, and elsewhere. Klose is a Fulbright Scholar and a four-time winner of the Maine Press Association’s annual award for opinion writing.