Great Falls Forum with Maine Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma
The 2024-2025 season of the Great Falls Forum continues Thursday, January 16th, featuring Maine Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma with a talk entitled “An Introduction to Maine’s Current Poet Laureate.” This free, public program will take place from 12 noon to 1 PM in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library.
Julia Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine where she works as a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher, and small-town librarian. She is Maine’s sixth Poet Laureate, currently serving a term from 2021 to 2026, and is the author of three poetry collections: the forthcoming Death Fluorescence (Sundress Publications, June 2025), Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018), and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). Honors include a 2024 Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets and two Maine Literary Awards. Her work can be found in various publications including Ecotone, Green Mountains Review, Kenyon Review, Plume, and Poetry Daily. Bouwsma has taught in the Creative Writing department at the University of Maine at Farmington, serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and works as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, ME.
Join Maine Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma as she introduces her poetry by presenting poems from her books, Midden and Work by Bloodlight, as well as newer poems from projects in progress. This talk, which incorporates a Q&A, will focus on the arc and progression of her work thus far, provide insight into her poetic process, consider the vital role that Maine plays in her poetry and poetic development, and explore thoughts about the particular necessity and relevance of poetry in times of isolation and division. Bouwsma will also explore her vision for the Poet Laureate position, providing an overview of recent projects designed to help Mainers gain greater comfort with poetry and connect with one another through this powerful medium.
Admission is free to all Forum events and reservations are only required if attending via Zoom. Click here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-qVgFGx9REOVH_vvfdfquQ .
This program is a bring-your-own, brown-bag lunch event. Coffee, tea and bottled water will be available on site at the library.
The Great Falls Forum speaker series is co-sponsored by Bates College, Lewiston Public Library, and the Sun Journal. The Lewiston Public Library is located downtown at 200 Lisbon Street at the corner of Pine Street. More information on Thursday’s lecture is available by contacting the Lewiston Public Library at 513-3135 or LPLReference@lewistonmaine.gov.
