CAMDEN and BELFAST — Poet Jeffrey Bean comes to Maine to read at the Page Gallery in Camden, July 26, and Waterfall Arts in Belfast, July 27.

Selected by the poet Naomi Shihab Nye as the winner of the 2022 Poetry Chapbook Contest sponsored by The Poets Corner and Maine Media Workshops & College, Jeffrey Bean will be in Maine for these two in-person readings. Both events are free and open to the public. Bean will read from his winning chapbook, Ella’s Plan.

The reading at the Page Gallery, 23 Bayview Street, in Camden, takes place Tuesday, July 26, from 7 - 8 p.m.

The reading at Waterfall Arts, at 256 High Street, in Belfast, takes place Wednesday, July 27, from 6 - 7:30 p.m.

The evening events will also include conversation with Richard Reitz Smith, chair of the Book Arts & Design program at Maine Media Workshops + College who designed, printed and assembled the letterpress edition of Ella’s Plan.

Events are free and open to the public.

Naomi Shihab Nye selected Ella’s Plan by Jeffrey Bean, saying: “I could not look away from these magical poems.”  

According to The Poets Corner news release, Nye wrote:

“Ella’s Plan is mesmerizing, embodying the real presence of an imaginative, eccentric, tender daydreamer-child. I felt riveted by the series of exquisite poems with such potent, occasionally chilling (as in the unforgettable poem “Truths” about an abusive babysitter) images. I could not look away from these magical poems. I felt I had known and treasured this child all my life, but never read this much about her before. I felt these poems rising out of deepest understanding and care for the outcast, the wayward creative. I adore them. There would be no way for this NOT to be the winner. I can imagine how utterly sensational this chapbook will be, and can’t wait to hold it in my hands.”

Jeffrey Bean is professor of English/Creative Writing at Central Michigan University. He is the author of two chapbooks and the poetry collections, Diminished Fifth and Woman Putting on Pearls, winner of the 2016 Red Mountain Prize for Poetry. His poems have been featured in the New Poetry from the Midwest anthologies and online at Poets.org and Verse Daily. Recent poems appear or are forthcoming in The Southern Review, Colorado Review, Cherry Tree, Sugar House Review, South Dakota Review, and Poet Lore, among other journals. www.jeffreybeanpoet.com

Copies of the letterpress edition of 250, designed by Richard Reitz Smith and printed in the Charles Altschul Studio for Book Art at Maine Media Workshops + College, are for sale on The Poets Corner website www.thepoetscorner.org/shop.

The Poets Corner is a platform created to foster community among writers and readers of poetry and short prose. Founded by former Maine Media Workshops + College president Meg Weston and author/writing coach Kathrin Seitz, The Poets Corner is based in Mid-coast Maine, and hosts virtual readings on the second Sunday of each month. 

Launched in 2000, Waterfall Arts is a community arts center that offers resources to arts enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. We welcome the public to engage in the arts through classes, exhibitions, art events, performances, public art projects, open studios (in clay, glass, print, and darkroom photography) and more. For more information, visit waterfallarts.org or call 207-338-2222.