Word Literary Festival 2023: Poets Aloud

Poets Aloud! At the 2023 Word Literary Festival
Recorded Saturday, October 21, 2023, 3pm to 5pm at the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill.
A variety of poetic voices at this year’s reading. Word welcomes the following poets to the stage: Meg Weston, co-founder of both Poets Corner and the Camden Poetry Festival; Chen Chen, whose work has appeared in The New York Times and three editions of The Best American Poetry; Meghan Sterling, Program Director at MWPA and winner of the Paul Nemser Book Prize (2022). Finally, in a special tribute, Maine’s fifth Poet Laureate Stuart Kestenbaum (2016-2021) will read the work of the late Paul Nemser of Harborside, poet of “a thousand brilliances’ (Red Mountain Press), who died earlier this year.

Recorded by Matt Murphy.

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The Nature of Phenology 10/21/23: Orionids

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

The peak of the Orionid meteor shower this year is 10/21/23. What causes them and why do these happen this time every year?

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

About the host/writers:
Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing [email protected]

Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing [email protected]

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The Cosmic Curator 10/21/23: Give Peace a Chance

Good Morning, People! This is your cosmic curator, Tom Yaroschuk, with a look at the stars for the week of October 21st and the days ahead.
The spotlight for the month is on the sign of Libra. Libra is a cardinal air sign, rued by Venus. Libra is represented by the scales of balance – a perfect indication of the libra ideal – you have to strike a balance in relationships…

About the Host:
Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer.

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Earthwise 10/21/23: The Element of Spirit

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley

About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine.

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Democracy Forum 10/20/23: Yikes – 8 Ballot Questions!

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine

The mostly volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Martha Dickinson, Michael Fisher, Starr Gilmartin, Maggie Harling, Lisa Leaverton, Ann Luther, Rick Lyles, Judith Lyles, Wendilee O’Brien, Maryann Ogonowski, emerita, Lane Sturtevant, Leah Taylor, and Linda Washburn.

Democracy Forum: Participatory Democracy, encouraging citizens to take an active role in government and politics

This month:
– Some of them are citizen initiatives; some of them are constitutional amendments. What’s the difference?
– What do they mean, what will they do, where did they come from, who supports and who opposes, and whose money is being spent?

Guest/s:
Will Hayward, Advocacy Program Director, LWVME – www.lwvme.org/lwvme-staff
Steve Mistler, Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent – www.mainepublic.org/people/steve-mistler

To learn more about this topic:
www.lwvme.org/www.vote411.org
www.maine.gov/meopa/
www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/ballotquestionsnov2023.html
www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/pdf/citizensguide23.pdf
www.mainepublic.org/tags/political-pulse
archives.weru.org/democracy-forum/2023/04/democracy-forum-4-21-23-ballot-questions-whose-initiatives-are-they/

About the host:
Ann currently serves as Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Maine and leads the LWVME Advocacy Team. She served as President of LWVME from 2003 to 2007 and as co-president from 2007-2009. In her work for the League, Ann has worked for greater public understanding of public policy issues and for the League’s priority issues in Clean Elections & Campaign Finance Reform, Voting Rights, Ethics in Government, Ranked Choice Voting, and Repeal of Term Limits. Representing LWVME at Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, she served that coalition as co-president from 2006 to 2011. She remains on the board of MCCE and serves as Treasurer. She is active in the LWV-Downeast and hosts their monthly radio show, The Democracy Forum, on WERU FM Community Radio -which started out in 2004 as an recurring special, and became a regular monthly program in 2012. She was the 2013 recipient of the Baldwin Award from the ACLU of Maine for her work on voting rights and elections. She joined the League in 1998 when she retired as Senior Vice President at SEI Investments. Ann was a founder of the MDI Restorative Justice Program, 1999 – 2000, and served on its Executive Board.

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Around Town 10/20/23: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Guest: Brooke Dojny

FMI: colloquydowneast.org/

About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

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Around Town 10/19/23: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

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Around Town 10/18/23: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

FMI:

www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_health
Find mosquito surveillance reports at www.maine.gov/dhhs/vectorborne.
View answers to frequently asked questions at www.maine.gov/dhhs/mosquitofaq
 
More information about the New Ventures Maine grant program, including a list of region representatives, is available at newventuresmaine.org   Grant applications are due Friday, November 3, 2023.

About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download