Rockland Public Library is one in a cohort of organizations and individuals throughout the state hosting a virtual Maine Humanities Council Discussion Project this summer. The Discussion Project is a new, flexible text-based discussion program that meets the needs of Maine communities, whether working independently or has part of an organization.

Working closely with Maine Humanities Council staff, communities bring their Discussion Project to life, using an MHC-prepared plan or creating their own. This discussion series is free and open to all.

The Library will be reading from Crossing Over: Works by Contemporary American Indian Writers, a list of texts curated by Pat Onion at Colby College. In these works, American Indian writers blend western writing techniques with oral tradition to mediate between two cultures. Modern and contemporary American Indian literature has deep roots in an oral tradition designed to teach and to entertain, and from those roots come literary works of enduring instruction and delight. Daniel Chin will facilitate.

Rockland Public Library’s Discussion Project begins Tuesday, July 20, on Zoom and continues bi-weekly for 5 sessions, through September 14, meeting at 4 p.m.

The group will begin with The Sharpest Sight by Louis Owens, then read Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, Tracks by Louise Erdrich, Fools Crow by James Welch, and finish with There, There by Tommy Orange.

At each session, participants will read selections from Song of Rita Joe: Autobiography of a Mi’Kmaq Poet.

Participants are welcome to join for one or all sessions; Zoom registration is required. The Library will provide copies of all the texts, to be returned at the end of the series, thanks to a generous loan from the Maine State Library.

“Space is limited, so please sign up soon!” said the Library, in a news release.

Register via Zoom here: https://tinyurl.com/3yd6uz6s

For more information, email elewis@rocklandmaine.gov and include “Discussion Project” in the subject line.