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