American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities
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Audio Interviews

At Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s November 1st “American Conversations” visit to the Norway Memorial Library in Norway, Maine, local community members were eager to share their excitement and enthusiasm about the event with Rob Casper, head of the Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center. You can listen to or read these short interviews below.

Cynthia Reedy is a trustee at the Norway Memorial Library in Norway, Maine.
Read the transcript of Cynthia Reedy’s interview

Allison Rosenblatt is a native of Maine, former high school English teacher, and Friend of the Norway Memorial Library living in Albany Township, Maine.
Read the transcript of Allison Rosenblatt’s interview

Betsy Sholl is a poet living in Portland, Maine; from 2006–2011, she served as Maine’s poet laureate.
Read the transcript of Betsy Sholl’s interview

Email Interviews

Many thanks to the dedicated coordinators and staff who helped organize the Maine “American Conversations” visits. The following interviews were conducted over e-mail by Rob Casper, head of the Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center.

Hayden Anderson, Jan Bindas-Tenney, Jerome Bennett, Diane Magras, Karen Myrick, Nicole Rancourt, Meghan Reedy, Lizz Sinclair, Kyle Volland, Ian Watkins

Maine Humanities Council/Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book

The staff of the Maine Humanities Council/Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book include:
Hayden Anderson, Executive Director 
Jan Bindas-Tenney, Program Officer
Jerome Bennett, Program Officer
Diane Magras, Director of Development
Karen Myrick, Office Manager
Nicole Rancourt, Program Officer
Meghan Reedy, Program Officer
Lizz Sinclair, Director of Programs/Harriet P. Center for the Book
Kyle Volland, Program Assistant
Ian Watkins, Communications and Development Assistant
Read the interview

Beth Kane

Norway Memorial Library

Elizabeth (Beth) Kane has been director of the Norway Memorial Library in Norway, Maine, since 2011. She also currently serves as a representative on the Maine Library Advisory Council and is a member of Maine Library Association’s Scholarship and Loan Committee.
Read the interview

Marcela Peres

Lewiston Public Library

Marcela Peres is the library director at Lewiston Public Library in Lewiston, Maine, where she previously served as its adult services librarian. Elsewhere professionally, she is a member of the Organizing Committee of the American Library Association’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table, and speaks regularly at professional conferences and comics conventions on the value of graphic novels and comics for adults and teens in public libraries.
Read the interview