Linda Aldrich, the celebrated Poet Laureate of Portland, Maine, will be opening reader for EAC’s 2021 Poetry & Pie Night, planned as an online event for April 30. Originally conceived as an open mic-style event featuring local poets and homemade pies, the event was held as an online gathering of submitted poems and pie images in 2020. This year, by moving the event to Zoom, the center is able to offer Aldrich as a special guest reader, as well as poets near and far. For a twist on the pie theme, during the Zoom EAC Director Chris Grannis will give a baking demonstration of a peach galette.
“Next time we hope for a live event,” notes Alison Brennan, EAC’s Education and Outreach Director, “but in the meanwhile we’re thrilled that the online format allows us to host Linda Aldrich. I am very grateful for the help of local poet Catherine Lee in planning this event. A noted published author of poetry and short fiction, Catherine has won numerous awards. In January, she was a guest in Eastport Gallery’s Literary Talk series. She is currently working on a new book of stories from the gulf of Maine, titled Island Secrets.”

The free Zoom event will take place from 7-8 pm on Friday, April 30. Please stay tuned for more details about participating, either as a reader or a listener/pie-onlooker. And in case you missed it, here’s our April 2020 Poetry & Pie Festival page.

Aldrich has published three collections of poetry, Foothold (2008, Finishing Line Press) March and Mad Women (2012, Cherry Grove Collections) and Ballast (2021 from Deerbrook Editions). She received an MFA from Vermont College, has been published in numerous journals and anthologies, and was recently awarded a Hewnoaks residency fellowship. Her poem “Woman without Arms” won the Emily Dickinson Award from Universities West Press. Before becoming a poet, Linda was the director of the Young Conservatory and a member of the repertory at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and later was Associate Professor of English and Humanities at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado. More recently, Linda has taught English and writing classes at Keene State College and Southern Maine Community College. As Portland’s Poet Laureate, Linda founded the Leaf of Voices reading series at the Portland Public Library and has given readings and writing workshops around the state. She also co-hosts the Local Buzz reading series at the Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth. She lives in Portland with her husband, David Miller, and their exceptional dog Simba.

A video of Linda reading her poem “Once Upon a Bird” may be viewed here: https://fb.watch/4Au2oyyzfx/. More information may be found via Linda’s website.