16th annual POETS/SPEAK! to celebrate diversity at Bangor Public Library
The Bangor Public Library will host the 16th annual POETS/SPEAK! poetry reading event April 26.
This year’s event, which is themed “Celebrate Unity in Diversity,” is dedicated to Allen Monga, a student at Deering High School in Portland and an asylum seeker from Zambia, who won the Maine Poetry Out Loud competition and went to court to win the right to perform in the national contest in Washington, D.C. after his eligibility was challenged due to lack of citizenship status.
The event begins with a reception at 4:30 p.m. Opening remarks by Barbara McDade, director of the Bangor Public Library, and Kathleen Ellis, event coordinator who teaches English and in the Honors College at the University of Maine, will be held at 4:45 p.m. followed by poetry readings and panels.
Performers include Maine Poetry Out Loud finalists from 2018 and 2017, as well as UMaine faculty, staff and students.
POETS/SPEAK! will conclude with live jazz at 7:20 p.m. and book sales and signings at 7:55 p.m. All events will take place in the first floor atrium of the library.
The event is made possible by the Bangor Public Library, Bangor Arts, UMaine Department of English, UMaine English 205 and 222 students, and several area poets.
For more information and a full schedule, visit the library’s event calendar.