Teaching American History
Charles Calhoun's first talk at the 2008 Teaching American History program was entitled "Why Are Some Biographies So Good?" What do you think of Charles' answer to that question, and what would your...
View ArticleThanks to the Animals
When the Born to Read program selected books for its anti-bias initiative, Many Eyes, Many Voices, there was a distressing gap in the field of contenders: a suitable children’s book about Maine Native...
View ArticleNalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson is one of the world’s best known fantasy and science fiction writers. She is the author of four novels (most recently The New Moon’s Arms, Warner, 2007) and numerous short stories, and...
View ArticleAlison Hawthorne Deming
Alison Hawthorne Deming is the author of three books of poetry, three nonfiction books, and two limited-edition chapbooks. Her place-based writing has earned her fellowships from the National Endowment...
View ArticleInterview with Lizz
Created by the Maine Humanities Council, Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health Care is a national award-winning reading and discussion program for health care professionals. The...
View ArticlePortland Freedom Trail
“Weaving History and Literature: the African American Oral and Written Tradition” brought five writers together to read from their work and discuss how African American history is revealed through...
View ArticleAnnaliese Jakimides
A Coastal Companion: A Year in the Gulf of Maine, from Canada to Cape Cod (Tilbury House, 2008) is part field guide, part almanac; a celebration of the natural world that also highlights people who...
View ArticleMargaret Sweat
Connie Burns is a school librarian in South Portland with a hidden passion: the lives of Victorian women. In pursuit of her passion, Burns researched Margaret Jane Mussey Sweat (1823-1908) for her...
View ArticleVietnam in Context
Patrick Rael is Associate Professor of History at Bowdoin College. His areas of interest include antebellum America, Civil War and Reconstruction, and comparative slavery. Among other publications, he...
View ArticleEmerson Baker
Emerson ‘Tad’ Baker of York, Maine, is a former chair of the Maine Humanities Council. An author and Professor of History at Salem State College, he directs several archaelogical excavations in New...
View ArticleLinda Greenlaw
Linda Greenlaw's three books about life as a commercial fisherman—The Hungry Ocean (1999), The Lobster Chronicles (2002), and All Fishermen Are Liars (2004)—have climbed as high as #2 on the New York...
View ArticleSchair Memorial Lecture
The 2008 Douglas M. Schair Memorial Lecture on Genocide and Human Rights was a dialogue for Muslim-Jewish understanding, presented in cooperation with the Islamic Society of Portland and the Jewish...
View ArticleEve LaPlante
Samuel Sewall, the only judge to publicly repent his decision to condemn twenty people to death as witches in 1692, is the subject of Eve LaPlante’s new biography, Salem Witch Judge: The Life and...
View ArticleBlue Hill Authors
Maine is home to many children’s authors and illustrators. Fans are usually only fortunate enough to see one at a time, but in July 2008, three of the best-known—Cynthia Voigt, Ruth Freeman Swain, and...
View ArticleMoon Runner
School librarian Connie Burns of South Portland is a steadfast supporter of the Maine Student Book Award. Here, she presents one of the books on the list of contenders from the 2006-07 school year:...
View ArticleDavid Richards
David Richards earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of New Hampshire. His research for the 2006 book Poland Spring: A Tale of the Gilded Age (University Press of New England) forms the basis...
View ArticleBlaine House
The Blaine House is the Governor’s residence in Augusta, Maine. At the 175th anniversary celebration of this historic house on August 16, 2008, historian Jo Radner interviewed some of its former...
View ArticleFear and Civil Liberties
On October 20, 2008, the Maine Humanities Council hosted a symposium entitled Fear, Civil Liberties, and the Rule of Law. The program began with an overview of the topic by Joel Rosenthal, President of...
View ArticleLynne Jonell
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell, illustrated by Jonathan Bean (Henry Holt, 2007), is intended for children ages 8-12, but its whimsy and wit broaden its appeal. The novel was...
View ArticleYing Chang Compestine
Another contender for a Maine Student Book Award in 2008-09 is Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (Random House, 2007) by Ying Chang Compestine (pictured at right). This novel about life in China during...
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