Call for writing

PORTLAND – RiverVision Press (www.rivervisionpress.com) has issued an open call for submissions for an anthology of nonfiction, slated for release during the summer.

Featuring as its theme, “Maine and Writer’s Perceptions of the State,” publisher Jim Baumer is asking for works between 3,000 and 5,000 words. He is accepting memoir, essay and creative nonfiction, aiming for a diverse collection of writers and ideas, including some new writing voices.

RiverVision will accept submissions March 1 to April 30. For more information, e-mail info@rivervisionpress.com or call Baumer at 939-8057.

Poetry competition

BAR HARBOR – Wesley McNair, Maine poet, will judge the 2006 Friends of Acadia Poetry Prize competition. Friends of Acadia is an independent membership organization working to preserve and protect the natural beauty, ecological vitality and cultural distinctiveness of Acadia National Park and the surrounding communities.

The poetry prize carries cash awards of $350, $200 and $100; and winning poems will be published in the “Friends of Acadia Journal” and online. Poets interested in participating in the competition can find the guidelines on the Friends of Acadia Web site at www.friendsofacadia.org/journal.shtml or by contacting editor@friendsofacadia.org.

Re-Seed is renamed

AUGUSTA – Maine’s premiere volunteer scientist organization is sporting a new moniker. Maine School Science Volunteers, previously Re-Seed Maine, is a nonprofit organization established to promote the use of engineers and other physical scientists to assist teachers in middle school science and math classrooms.

The organization recruits seasoned science professionals, trains them to become hands-on volunteers and places them in classrooms in their own communities.

Founded in 1991 at Northeastern University in Boston, the Re-Seed program has branched out to 11 states. Maine’s chapter has trained 75 volunteers and has placed scientists in southern and midcoast Maine classrooms, with plans to expand into schools throughout central Maine. There is no cost to schools for the opportunity, and services are adapted to accommodate the needs of individual teachers.

For more information, contact coordinator Debbie Daggett at 375-8787 or e-mail ReadToSucceed@adelphia.net.

Starfish award

PORTLAND – The Maine Women Writers Collection at the University of New England has announced the creation of the Purple Starfish Award to be given annually to a young woman leader, under age 30, whose work and vision for a more vibrant and culturally diverse society in the state has inspired others.

The award will be given in memory of Portland native Perdita Huston (1936-2001), journalist, Peace Corps official and director of several international organizations. She wrote four books, including “Third World Women Speak Out.” Her papers are located at the Maine Women Writers Collection.

A cash award of $1,500 will be given to each awardee. In addition, each awardee may select up to three mentors from a roster of community leaders who will be available during the year of her award to help her consolidate and/or expand her work.

Nominations are invited from any Maine citizen and are due by March 1. Nomination forms and additional award information can be found on the collection Web site at www.une.edu.

The award will be presented on April 28 at the fourth annual NAACP Celebration of Excellence in Education Ceremony held at the Eastland Park Hotel.

Copy the Story Link