Maine Humanities Council

Kim Wilson is the Wisconsin-based author of two books: Tea with Jane Austen and In the Garden with Jane Austen. Her presentation at the Maine Festival of the Book, “Jane Austen’s Gardens: Love in the Shrubbery,” was beautifully illustrated by a slide show. The images are not captured by this audio recording, but her comments about the roles of gardens in the lives and loves of Austen and her characters are nevertheless enlightening.

This talk took place at the Maine Festival of the Book, sponsored by Maine Reads, on April 4, 2009.

 

 Jane Austen's Gardens [38:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (762)

Moderated by the publisher of Warren Machine Company, Ari Meil, this event was a discussion of why Maine provides such rich inspiration for writers, and what has brought the writers Lewis Robinson, Andrew McNabb, and Lisa Carey to their respective places in the literary world today. Lisa Carey is the author of Every Visible Thing, The Mermaids Singing, In the Country of the Young, and Love in the Asylum. She lived in Ireland for five years and now resides in Portland. Andrew McNabb (pictured at right), author of The Body of This, lives in Portland with his wife and four young children. His short stories have appeared in a range of literary venues including The Missouri Review and Not Safe, But Good: Best Christian Short Stories, 2007. He is currently at work on a memoir and treatise to his children. Lewis Robinson is the author of the novel Water Dogs and the story collection Officer Friendly. He lives in Portland and teaches in the Stonecoast MFA program.

This panel discussion took place at the Maine Festival of the Book, sponsored by Maine Reads, on April 4, 2009.

 

 Panel Discussion [53:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (770)

In this three-part episode, two particularly quick-witted and talkative apes, Hannah Holmes (The Well-Dressed Ape) and Bill Roorbach (Temple Stream), address their collisions with the rest of the natural world. Roorbach’s recent work has taken him into the woods and fields behind his own house, a primitive but not always private domain. Holmes has turned inward, primarily, to consider the fundamental animalness of this ape we so often mistake for something extraordinary. Here, they each share their own work before turning their practiced analytical eyes on one another.

This conversation between Hannah Holmes and Bill Roorbach took place at the Maine Festival of the Book, sponsored by Maine Reads, on April 4, 2009.

 

 Bill Roorbach reading [14:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (215)

 

 Hannah Holmes reading [10:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (107)

 

 Meeting of the Apes [23:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (104)

Ann Hood is the author, most recently, of The Knitting Circle and Comfort: A Journey Through Grief. Both new books deal with the loss of her 5-year old daughter, one through fiction and one through memoir. In this talk, she compares the two approaches and recalls episodes—both tragic and very, very funny—from her life. Hood is the author of seven other novels and a collection of short stories.

This talk by Ann Hood took place at the Maine Festival of the Book, sponsored by Maine Reads, on April 4, 2009.

 

 Ann Hood [51:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (530)