Maine Humanities Council

As a writer, I’m naturally fascinated by changes in the world of books and ways of reading. Graphic novels, for instance, are receiving serious attention these days from major publishers, literary agents, and the general public. They’re turning into a key medium of the written word, and have special value for students who may not be interested in more traditional books. At Winter Weekend this year, one participant at my table said that the Stanley Lombardo translation of The Iliad (known to be vernacular rather than traditional) or a graphic novel of the text would be precisely what might help a student to read it in the first place. Is it the idea or the way it’s told that counts? implied his comments. (Needless to say, we had a wonderful discussion.)

Because the humanities are all about exploring thought through a variety of media, the Maine Humanities Council will be doing precise this with a graphic novel in an upcoming program, Lost in a Graphic Novel in Maine: Recreating a Classic Book on May 12. The MHC is collaborating with Down East Books, which published Lost Trail, a graphic novel version of the 1939 classic Lost on a Mountain in Maine, to hold a half-day teacher program based on the graphic novel. We’ll be working with K-12 teachers in Bangor and will provide historical context for the book as well as feature conversations with Ben Bishop, the graphic artist; noted children’s writer Lynn Plourde, who adapted the original book to this new format; and Donn Fendler, on whose experience in the wilds of Mt. Katahdin both books are based. We’ll help teachers think of new ways to present this engaging piece of Maine history to their students, as well as come to a greater understanding of the graphic novel genre and its possibilities in the classroom.

Have you thought about Lost on a Mountain in Maine every time you’ve been hiking or in the woods? Please let us know how that book has stayed with you. The MHC is giving away five copies of Lost Trail to the first five comments we receive to this post on that topic. And then perhaps Lost Trail will inspire new thoughts while you’re outdoors this summer.

(Posted by Diane Magras)

Miss May Sarton (1904-1995), 1936; oil on canvas, by Polly Thayer Starr. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum; Courtesy of the Polly Thayer Starr Revocable Trust and the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust

Commemorating the 100th birthday of the acclaimed poet, novelist, and memoirist who lived and worked in Maine for the last 22 years of her life, the May Sarton Centennial Symposium will take place May 3 – 6, 2012, in York. It will focus attention on May Sarton as a major literary voice, building awareness of Maine as a place where literature and the arts are supported and celebrated. This exemplary program by the May Sarton Centennial Committee is supported by a major grant from Maine Humanities Council.

May Sarton wrote 16 books of poetry, 19 novels, 12 published journals and memoirs, and two children’s books, as well as essays, articles, and thousands of letters to her friends and readers. She wrote about empathy and compassion, nature and spirituality; she engaged deeply with the ideas of the feminist struggle, of developing a sense of self, of marriage and friendship, and, later, of old age and the links between art and death. The Symposium will explore all of these facets of Sarton’s work.

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Where will you find Ben Bishop, illustrator of the graphic novel adaptation of Lost on a Mountain in Maine; children’s authors Lynn Plourde and Rebekah Raye; authors Elizabeth Peavey; Angus King; Tom Allen; Peter Behrens; Jessica Keener, Colin Woordward; Sarah Thompson; Susan Henderson, and over 40 other authors, artists, and performers this March?

At the Maine Festival of the Book, one of Maine’s best-kept secrets!

Held on the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus from March 29^th-April 1^st, this annual event grows bigger and more exciting each year. Most events are free and unticketed (with the exception of Opening Night), and available first-come, first-served. The Maine Humanities Council has been happy to provide support for the Maine Festival of the Book each year through grants to its organizer, Maine Reads.

Civil War historian and best selling author Tony Horwitz (pictured above) is the featured speaker for the festival’s official opening on March 30^th. He will speak about his new book on abolitionist John Brown titled Midnight Rising. Horwitz won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for reporting. He is the author of four other books: A Voyage Long and Strange, Blue Latitudes, Confederates in the Attic, and Baghdad Without A Map.

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The war is stalemated in its 10^th year. Two powerful warlords argue over the spoils. The more charismatic of the two suddenly goes berserk after the death of his closest comrade.

Sound familiar? But it’s not today’s news from Afghanistan. It’s a tale first told some 3,000 years ago by the Greeks. On March 9-10, 2012, at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, the Maine Humanities Council returns to this ancient yet only too fresh story for its 15^th annual Winter Weekend, devoted to Homer’s The Iliad in the Robert Fagles translation.

The weekend features scholarly yet accessible lectures—led off by Mainer Caroline Alexander, author of the bestselling The War That Killed Achilles—small-group discussions, a reception, and a Mediterranean feast.

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Calling all fans of Kenneth Roberts and local history: through June 1, 2011, the Maine Humanities Council is holding a very special raffle. For $50, you will have a chance at a visit to Rocky Pastures, Kenneth Roberts’ Kennebunkport home (pictured), in a package that includes a guided tour of the house for your party of four, lunch at Arundel Wharf, and a basket filled with good Maine books. Only 100 tickets will be sold. Buy raffle tickets online or phone Karen Myrick at 207-773-5051.

Proceeds will support the Maine Humanities Council’s programs and events across the state.

Discover how good Maine food–and its history–can be during a special dinner to benefit MHC programs on April 28, 2011, in Portland. Featuring food historian Sandy Oliver and Maine historian Tad Baker, Inventing Tradition: Good Maine Food will explore how food, fiction and history intertwine—in Kenneth Roberts’ writing, and in Good Maine Food, the recently reissued classic of Maine cookery. Tickets are $85.00 per person, and are going quickly.

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Sharing art with children can result in amazing conversations and growth. Here, a boy learns about a modern work at the Portland Museum of Art. Photo credit: Diane Hudson

Does a teacher of a student you know, from preschool to high school, want to learn more about using art in the classroom? The Maine Humanities Council is offering Picturing America in Lewiston on Saturday, March 19, from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. This one-day program for educators of students ages birth through 18 offers innovative ways for teachers to use visual images from the National Endowment for the Humanities Picturing America initiative and Maine’s local art collections to teach critical thinking skills, visual and verbal literacy, and American culture. This program will be held at, and in partnership with, the Bates College Museum of Art and the USM Lewiston-Auburn College Atrium Art Gallery. Teachers may register online for a fee of $25 (scholarships are available).

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Are you purchasing books this holiday season for your friends and loved ones? (Don’t tell my husband and son, but I’ve got quite a list of good things in print for each of them.) This weekend only, Borders in Maine has offered to contribute a percentage of all purchases to the MHC.

To help the MHC take advantage of this offer, use this voucher on December 4 or 5, 2010, at a Borders bookstore in South Portland, Brunswick, Bangor, or Auburn, Maine; or through the Internet at www.borders.com.

This funding will provide books and scholar-led discussions throughout Maine, helping low-literacy adults, early childhood educators, and the general public celebrate the power and pleasure of the humanities. We will report back in this newsletter the total contribution from Borders.

Want to learn more about the intriguing cultures of China, Japan, and Korea? Come to a MHC program on December 3, 2010, at Thornton Academy for China, Japan and Korea: Perspectives on East Asia.

As Maine continues to adjust to globalization, diverse cultures come together, enriching our families and communities. Recently, many East Asian students have made Maine their home as they pursue their education.  This affords a unique opportunity to Maine residents and visitors alike to broaden perspectives and engage with the larger world in a new way.

Join us on December 3, 2010 at Thornton Academy in Saco to explore the fascinating history and contemporary issues of East Asia. Presenters will include Brad Babson, former World Bank employee and expert on contemporary issues in North and South Korea; Tom Conlan, Asian Studies professor at Bowdoin College and Japanese historian; Brad Dearden, Geography professor at UMF and Jai Zhao, Professor of History at University of Southern Maine and specialist in Chinese history and culture.

Please register online. CEUs are available for early childhood educators, K-12 teachers, and adult education instructors. Contact us with questions.

Dr. Jonathan Shay will be a keynote speaker at the MHC’s After Shock: Humanities Perspective on Trauma conference November 12 and 13 in Washington, DC. In light of that, we’d like to share a story about how Shay’s work affects Literature & Medicine programs, taken from remarks for a presentation about Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health Care® by Tim Richardson, MD, Chief of Staff, Togus, Maine Veterans Administration Medical Center, at Be the Change You Want to See: Seeing, Serving and Leading in New Ways Veterans Health Administration Senior Leadership Conference 2010 on August 24 through 26, 2010, Las Vegas, Nevada

by Tim Richardson

I have been a participant in the Literature & Medicine Program at Togus for the past nine years. I have personally found the program to be very rewarding, and I believe that it has had a positive effect on me as a health care worker caring for Veterans and as an administrator at Togus. I have also seen and heard the impact of the program on my colleagues and co-workers.

Most importantly for me, I believe that I have developed more empathy and understanding of Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other mental health disabilities, and of Veterans of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I believe it has also improved my professional skills with Veterans for whom I normally care as a geriatrician, those facing difficult ethical dilemmas at the end-of-life, and Veterans facing progressive dementia and increasing physical disabilities.

True empathy is necessary for our Veteran patients, and it requires us as healthcare workers and administrators to see and feel ourselves in their suffering. Frank Ostaseki, Founding Director of the acclaimed Zen Hospice Project, speaks to this eloquently in his description of his precepts for caring for end-of-life patients, percepts that are applicable to all of health care. He asks us to “bring your whole self to the experience”, saying, “in the service of healing we draw on our strength and helplessness, our wounds and passion, to discover a meeting place with the other. … It is not our expertise, but the exploration of our own suffering that enables us to be of real assistance. That is what allows us to touch another human being’s pain with compassion instead of with fear and pity.”

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