BELFAST — Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco will speak about and read from his poetry from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2, with a signing and refreshments immediately afterwards. The event will take place at the First Church of Belfast.

Novelist Lily King will speak Sunday, Aug. 3, at Left Bank Books. 

Blanco was chosen as the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, following in the footsteps of such great writers as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. He read his original poem, One Today, at President Obama's second inauguration on Jan. 21, 2013. That day confirmed him as an historical figure: the first Latino, immigrant, and gay writer bestowed with such an honor, as well as the youngest ever at age 44.

One Today resonated deeply with millions of Americans who were touched by its humanity and power. In the 18 months since, Blanco has been sought out by audiences across the country, and he has been traveling nearly constantly and working particularly with schoolchildren. The themes of place and belonging that characterize his work are rooted in his own childhood. By the time he was just a few weeks old, Blanco already belonged to three countries. His mother was pregnant when she and his father arrived as exiles from Cuba to Madrid where Blanco was born; less than two months later the family emigrated to the United States, settling first in New York, then Miami.

Blanco is the author of three collections of poetry and a prose publication, For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey, in which he shares the emotional details of his experience as inaugural poet, his understanding of what it means to be an American, and his life-changing role as a public voice. His autobiography will be published in September.

On Sunday, Aug. 3, King will be at the bookshop beginning at 3 p.m, speaking about her newest novel, Euphoria, and signing copies of all of her books immediately afterwards until 5 p.m.

Inspired by the life of anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria tells the story of three trail-blazing anthropologists caught in a complex love triangle in 1930s New Guinea. Just published in June, Euphoria has received glowing national reviews. A front-page review in the New York Times Book Review hailed it as "a taut, witty, fiercely intelligent tale of competing egos and desires in a landscape of exotic menace.” Novelist Andre Dubus III called it "simply one of the finest novels I've read in years. . .it puts Lily King firmly in the top rank of our most accomplished novelists."

King is the author of three previous novels and the winner of numerous prestigious awards. Her second book, The English Teacher, was named the Chicago Tribune's Best Book of the Year and won the Maine Fiction Award. Her third, Father of the Rain, was a New York Times Editors' Choice and won both the New England Book Award for Fiction and the Maine Fiction Award. Euphoria is on the summer reading lists of the Boston Globe, O Magazine and USA Today. King, who lives with her family in Falmouth, is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a Whiting Writers' Award, as well as a Raymond Carver Prize for Fiction.

For more information about either of these events, reserve seats, or signed books, call Left Bank Books at 207.338.9009 or email the bookshop at leftbank @myfairpoint.net.