Maine Humanities Council

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 have evoked complicated responses from Americans and also the rest of the world. Now, ten years later, we are reflecting on how we at the Maine Humanities Council have responded. In summary, I think it is fair to say that we have tried to learn from the events of 9/11 and to promote understanding of how people in other parts of the world live, what they believe and want, and how they view the United States. 9/11 also caused us to reflect on how Americans see themselves, and we’ve created a number of programs and given grants that explore that as well.

In this post, we’ll present programs that look outward, towards the rest of the world, and in October focus on programs and activities that have encouraged us to reflect upon ourselves as Americans.

The Council’s immediate response to 9/11 was our quickly organized statewide reading and discussion program Let Freedom Ring! On October 11, 2001, nearly 1,000 Mainers came together in 63 libraries to share thoughts on W.H. Auden’s ”September 1, 1939” and Franklin Roosevelt’s speech, “The Four Freedoms”, and to reflect on the events of September 11. As one participant wrote afterwards, “There was freedom and respect in this circle – it models what we wish for in the larger world.”

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by Carolyn Sloan

It is a dark and stormy night, so stormy, in fact, that the traffic on the turnpike slows to 55 mph between Biddeford and Kennebunkport.  I am on my way down to York Public Library to attend the last session of the Let’s Talk About It poetry series American Traditions; American Innovations.  When Baron Wormser developed the series, he designated the last session as a sharing of modern American poetry by the participants.  My own possible contribution lies on the car seat beside me.  I had attended other wonderful sessions of the series, but never this last session of sharing.  Would it work?  Would the participants be reticent?  come unprepared?

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by Sheila Jans

Judy Paradis takes part in an animated discussion during the Ste-Agathe LTAI. (credit: Sheila Jans)

This was no ordinary book club. And then again, what was I comparing it to? I had never belonged to an ordinary book club. Regardless, I knew I was in the midst of something uniquely distinct this past summer. I participated in my first ever Let’s Talk About It – a book discussion program of the Maine Humanities Council.

Once a month for five months I met with close to 20 other people in the little town of Ste-Agathe on beautiful Long Lake in the St. John Valley. Yes, we read a book. Then we got together and talked about it. The five books we read were part of a thoughtfully designed series called “Defining Wilderness, Defining Maine.” And then a scholar, who is an accomplished writer and teacher of creative writing, artfully led our two-hour discussions.

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View of St. John River from Edmundston, New Brunswick toward Frenchville, ME (credit: Daniel Picard)

The St. John Valley in Aroostook County is an area rich in history and culture. When I visited it two years ago for the second time in my life, I saw rural lawns mowed in straight rows, houses painted perfectly, and window boxes full of flowers. Fields of grass, clover, potatoes, and broccoli were everywhere. The landscape spoke of an idyllic life with a shared pride in community, and the people I met reflected this, too.

The MHC has always had programming in the St. John Valley, from a children’s literature seminar last year in Fort Kent to many New Books, New Readers adult literacy groups to several grants awarded to, among other projects, the development of a cultural tour (“Voici the Valley”). And recently, we’ve had Let’s Talk About It library-based reading and discussion groups.

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Let’s Talk About It, the MHC’s library-based reading and discussion program, has three new series available for 2010. Contact your local library if you’d like to participate; the series are free to libraries and patrons.

Paradise Revealed: Readings in Caribbean Literature

This series examines Caribbean literature throughout the Caribbean archipelago, from the Lesser Antilles to the Greater Antilles, from Trinidad to Jamaica. Using a variety of genres (short fiction, the novel, creative non-fiction, and poetry), texts will examine the issues which have shaped the islands and still influence them today: colonialism, island rivalries, politics, the heritage of slavery, connection to Africa, gender roles, and economic development/exploitation. The works emphasize the uniqueness of the individual islands and the powerful and innovative talents of Caribbean writers.

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