Humanities on Demand

The Maine Humanities Council podcast includes readings, lectures, interviews, and other programs sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council and partners like the Portland Public Library. The audio files on this page can be downloaded to your computer or to a media player such as an iPod. For more information on downloading and playing the files, as well as instructions for subscribing to the podcast, see our audio FAQ. If you are interested in finding other audio programming from Maine, see our list of links. This project is supported by a special Digital Humanities Start-Up grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. If you have any questions, please contact Brita Zitin at (207) 773-5051.

Jan 30 2009

Stonecoast Faculty Flash Reading, Part 2

This episode is the continuation of the Stonecoast MFA Faculty “flash reading” from the winter residency in January 2009, in which each writer gets three minutes in which to share his or her work before introducing the next writer in the queue.

The first reader is Richard Hoffman, who writes in multiple genres and here shares both a short short, “Phototaxis,” and two poems, “A Good While” and “Watching.” Fantasy fiction writer Nancy Holder reads a short story about the character Zorro, and Charles Martin reads his poem “Poison.” April Ossman closed the reading with two poems, “Whose Fragile Lips” and “The Name of the Mold,” from her collection Anxious Music.

 
icon for podpress  Richard Hoffman [4:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Nancy Holder [7:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Charles Martin [7:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  April Ossman [3:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Jan 28 2009

Stonecoast Faculty Flash Reading, Part 1

One of the highlights of each 10-day residency in the Stonecoast MFA program is the “flash reading” by faculty members. Each writer gets three minutes in which to share his or her work before introducing the next writer in the queue.

The flash reading from the winter residency in January 2009 began with Jaed Coffin reading an excerpt from his memoir, A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants. The next reader was David Durham, who read from his forthcoming novel The Other Land. Annie Finch shared one poem from her collection Calendars, and another from her new manuscript, American Witch. Poet Jeffrey Harrison read “Ivan Ilyich at the Lake” and “Shaking Off the Snow.” This reading continues in the next episode of the podcast.

 
icon for podpress  Jaed Coffin [4:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  David Durham [4:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Annie Finch [5:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Jeffrey Harrison [4:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Mar 2 2008

Flash Reading: Nonfiction and Drama

In this Stonecoast Faculty Flash Reading from January 2008, Tanya Maria Barrientos reads her essay “Se Habla Español,” published in Borderline Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish On Sex, Sass & Cultural Shifting (HarperCollins, 2004). Then Michael Kimball performs a monologue from a short play in progress, entitled “Do You Know the Muffin Man?” Finally, Leila Philip read chapter two, “The Count,” from A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family (Viking, 2001).

 
icon for podpress  Tanya Maria Barrientos [10:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Michael Kimball [4:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Leila Philip [3:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Feb 28 2008

Flash Reading: Fiction

One of the highlights of each 10-day residency in the Stonecoast MFA program is the “flash reading” by faculty members. Each writer gets three minutes in which to share his or her work before introducing the next writer in the queue.

During the winter residency in January 2008, Joan Connor read her short short called “High Flyer” and Alan Davis read his short short “The Vanishing.” (To hear Joan read two other stories, visit Wired for Books. For more of Alan’s work, see his Minnesota State University faculty page.) Jim Kelly shared a selection of the six-word stories published in the November 2006 issue of Wired magazine. Kelly Link read an excerpt from her short story “Light,” which appeared in the “Fantastic Women” issue of Tin House. Michael White shared an excerpt from his forthcoming novel, Beautiful Assassin. Michael already has six published books, which are described at his website.

 
icon for podpress  Joan Connor [5:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Alan Davis [5:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Jim Kelly [3:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Kelly Link [4:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Michael White [5:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Feb 27 2008

Flash Reading: Poetry

One of the highlights of each 10-day residency in the Stonecoast MFA program is the “flash reading” by faculty members. Each writer gets three minutes in which to share his or her work before introducing the next writer in the queue.

Here are five flash readings by Stonecoast poetry faculty, all recorded at the January 2008 Winter Residency. The first is Annie Finch, director of the Stonecoast MFA program, reading two poems: “Esbat” and “Moon from the Porch.” More of Annie’s poems are available in audio format at From the Fishouse. Then Lesléa Newman, whose web page consists of excerpts and information on her writing for both adults and children, reads a poem called “Mugged.” Timothy Seibles reads three pieces: “Edge,” “Booty-full,” and “Alison Wolf.” Baron Wormser, whose website, Teach Poetry, includes an archive of his work and several audio recordings of poems from his 2005 chapbook, Carthage, reads “A Visitation: 1968.” Finally, Ted Deppe, director of the Stonecoast program in Ireland, reads his poem “Phone Call from Finland.”

 
icon for podpress  Annie Finch [4:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Lesléa Newman [3:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Timothy Seibles [9:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Baron Wormser [4:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 
icon for podpress  Ted Deppe [4:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 

Please be aware that the content in these audio files does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Maine Humanities Council or any organization with which the Maine Humanities Council is affiliated. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.