Wes McNair poetry reading set for Nov. 14

BANGOR – The Bangor Public Library will present a free poetry reading by Wes McNair at 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in the Lecture Hall. McNair will read from his latest work, “Fire,” answer questions, and sign copies of his works. For more information, contact the library at 947-8336.

Wesley McNair is the recipient of fellowships from the Rockefeller, Fulbright, and Guggenheim Foundations, a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in literature, and two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for creative writers.

A jurist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for 2002, McNair wrote the scripts for a television program on Robert Frost that aired on PBS affiliates and won an Emmy Award. His work has been featured on Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac” and National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition.”

The editor of the “The Quotable Moose: Contemporary Maine Writing,” McNair is now at work on “The Maine Poets,” an anthology of the state’s verse from Longfellow to the present, due in 2003.

Currently a visiting professor at Colby College, he directs the creative writing program at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he received the Distinguished Faculty Award and the Libra Professorship. He also serves on the faculty of the Stonecoast low-residency MFA in creative writing. Sample poems and advice for beginning poets are available at www.wesleymcnair.com.