The first anthology of its kind, the new book offers a chronology of Maine’s poetry.

FARMINGTON – Several contemporary Maine poets will read short selections of their work at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, at Devaney, Doak and Garrett Booksellers in Farmington.

The reading will celebrate the arrival of the new book, “The Maine Poets,” an anthology of Maine poetry edited by Wesley McNair, whose work is also featured in the collection.

McNair, of Mercer, is currently a visiting professor at Colby College and directs the Creative Writing program at the University of Maine at Farmington.

The first anthology of its kind, “The Maine Poets,” published by Down East Books, offers a chronology of the state’s poetry from Longfellow to the present.

The new book features selections from a rich heritage that includes poets like Edwin Arlington Robinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay and May Sarton along with contemporaries, some of whom will be reading from the anthology Tuesday.

According to McNair, the poems of the anthology have been “chosen for the general reader rather than the literary specialist” and “address life in this place and all human places.”

Featured at the reading will be Henry Braun, a retired professor from Temple University who lives in Weld, a primary source for his poems; Thomas Carper, a University of Southern Maine professor from Cornish; Richard Foerster of York Beach and the editor of the Chautauqua Literary Journal; Peter Harris, a professor of creative writing at Colby and a resident of Waterville; April Ossman, director of UMF’s Alice James Books from Jay, and McNair.

Afterward, poets will join for a group book signing.

For more information, phone 778-3454.

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