ORONO – The spring semester program for the University of Maine’s New Writing Series will bring a diverse mix of internationally recognized and local poets to campus – including African-American, Canadian and Native American writers.

The series was launched three years ago to showcase innovative writing in all its forms and to foster cultural exchange across local, regional, national and international boundaries.

Readings will be held Thursdays at 4:30 p.m at the Soderberg Auditorium in Jenness Hall, unless otherwise noted. Events are free and open to the public.

Highlights of the series include a reading by Canadian feminist Nicole Brossard on April 11, and Black Arts Movement poet Askia Toure on Feb. 21. The May 9 program will feature UMaine undergraduate and graduate students reading their own published works from UMaine journals Maine Review and Stolen Island Review.

The series’ local focus also complements the Department of English and National Poetry Foundation’s second annual Maine Poetry and Story Exchange, set for April 27.

Steve Evans, an assistant professor of contemporary poetry and a coordinator of the series, said it was fulfilling its aim to create a space for students, faculty and members of the community to interact with accomplished writers from Maine and beyond.

“Nicole Brossard would make anyone’s list of major living writers. Furthermore, the readings of Maine writers Kathleen Ellis and Candice Stover on the Thursday before the Maine Poetry and Story Exchange complement that event’s intense focus on the diversity of writing in Maine,” Evans said.

The New Writing Series is sponsored by the English Department and the National Poetry Foundation with support from the Lloyd H. Elliott Fund and grants from the cultural affairs committee.

The schedule for the spring season includes:

. Feb. 21: Askia Toure, one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement and one of the nation’s most prominent African-American poets. He is the author of five books, the most recent of which is “Dawnsong: the Epic Memory of Askia Toure.”

. Feb. 28: Jennifer Anna Gosetti and Michael Alpert. Gossetti is a new member of the UMaine philosophy department’s faculty and widely published poet, with works in Paris Review, Missouri Review and other journals.

Alpert is the director of the University of Maine Press and a visual artist. His books include “Die Winterreise,” “Darkwood” and “A Night-sea Journey.”

. March 28: Ssipsis and James Stevens. Ssipsis, a Penobscot storyteller, poet, activist, grandmother, birchbark artist and painter, lives at Alder Stream near Eustis. With Georgia Mitchell, she is the author of “Molly Molasses and Me,” as well as numerous uncollected poems.

James Stevens an Akwesasne Mohawk whose long poem “Tokinish,” first published in 1994, has been anthologized in “Visit Teepee Town: Native Writings after the Detours. His new volume “Combing the Snakes from His Hair” is due out by mid-March.

. Wednesday, April 3: Charles Bernstein, the David Gray Professor of Poetry and Letters and the director of the Poetics Program at the State University of New York in Buffalo. He has published 25 books of poetry, most recently “With Strings” and “Republics of Reality: 1975-1995.”

. April 11: Nicole Brossard, who has published eight novels and numerous books of poetry and essays in a career spanning almost 40 years. Her work has been widely translated and anthologized. In 1991, Brossard was awarded Le Prix Athanase-David for lifetime achievement. She splits her time between her native Montreal and Paris. Brossard’s visit is receiving support from the Women’s Resource Center.

. April 18: Rae Armantrout: Armantrout, who has published six books of poetry, including “Veil: New and Selected Poems” and “Made to Seem.” She teaches at the University of California San Diego.

. April 25: Kathleen Ellis and Candice Stover. Ellis is a lecturer in the UMaine English Department and the author of the recently-published “Entering Earthquake Country.”

Stover is an adjunct professor at the College of the Atlantic and the author of “Holding Patterns,” the 1994 Maine Chapbook Award winner. Stover has been a reporter for the Boston Globe and taught in New Zealand and China.

. Saturday, April 27: Maine Poetry and Story Exchange. This event is open to all Maine writers and storytellers – published and unpublished – and features open poetry readings, storytelling sessions and writing workshops.

. May 9: Maine Review and Stolen Island Review: UMaine undergraduate and graduate students reading their own published works from UMaine journals Maine Review and Stolen Island Review.

For more information, contact Steve Evans at 581-3809 or visit www.umaine.edu/english.