A 1-Day Poetry Workshop
Sunday: September 14, 10 AM - 2 PM
In the words of Robin Wall Kimmerer, Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart. Open to writers in all genres, this unique field trip and workshop combination, led by Maine Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma and certified Maine Master Naturalist and poet Samaa Abdurraqib, will provide participants with a chance to practice careful observation of the natural world and then to develop those observations on the page. This generative workshop will take place at the Flagstaff Lake Hut, which offers private lake access with stunning views of the Bigelow Range. The two-mile walk to the hut from the trailhead will allow ample opportunities for receiving with open eyes and heart as we stop along the way to observe, listen, and record our interactions with the beings and life around us. Once we have arrived at the hut, we will have time to engage with a few short sample texts, write, share, and soak in the beauty of our surroundings. Please note that this workshop will require a total of four miles of walking.
$90 Members/$135 Nonmembers
Samaa Abdurraqib is the editor of From Root to Seed: Black, Brown, and Indigenous Poets Write the Northeast (2023). Recently, her poetry has appeared in Cider Press Review, december, Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora, and in the edited collection Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic (2022). Her newest chapbook, Towards a Retreat will be published by Diode Editions in 2025. Samaa is a certified Maine Master Naturalist and she is always listening for birdsong.
Julia Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine, where she is a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher, small-town librarian and the Maine Poet Laureate (2021-2026). Bouwsma is the author of three poetry collections, Death Fluorescence (forthcoming from Sundress Publications in 2025) and Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018) and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017), both of which received the Maine Literary Award for Poetry. Other honors include a Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets, the Poet’s Out Loud Prize (2016-17), the Cider Press Review Book Award (2015), and residency fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Monson Arts, and Annex Arts. Bouwsma’s poems and book reviews can be found in Cutthroat, Green Mountains Review, Poetry Daily, Poetry Northwest, RHINO, River Styx, and other journals. She currently serves as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact programs@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-200-7180 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due two weeks prior to the workshop start date, at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION