April 28th, 2009

FARMINGTON, ME (April 28, 2009)--University of Maine at Farmington is
presenting a reading by Wesley McNair, UMF professor emeritus,
writer-in-residence and celebrated poet, at the Humanities spring
reception. McNair will read from his work at noon on Thursday, May 7, in
the lobby of the UMF Education Center. This event is free and the public is
cordially invited.

In his presentation, McNair will focus on personal poems about his
hardscrabble childhood and the obstacles he faced afterward, discussing
through them how he became a poet.

A professor emeritus and writer in residence at UMF, McNair recently read
his poems at the Library of Congress and was selected for a United States
Artist Fellowship as one of "America's finest living artists." He has won
numerous awards for his work, including Guggenheim, Rockefeller and NEA
fellowships; poetry prizes from Poetry, Poetry Northwest and Yankee
magazines; the Robert Frost and Jane Kenyon Awards and the Sarah Josepha
Hale Medal. Featured on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition" and
several times on Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac," McNair's work has
appeared in the Pushcart Prize annual, two editions of "The Best American
Poetry," and over fifty anthologies and textbooks.

McNair has authored and edited 18 books, including two forthcoming volumes,
"Lovers of the Lost: New and Selected Poems," and "The Words I Chose: A
Memoir of Family and Poetry."

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For more information regarding this event, please contact Jeffrey Thomson,
UMF assistant professor of creative writing, at 207-778-7454, or at
jeffrey.thomson@maine.edu.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You will find photo at
http://www.umf.maine.edu/campus/docs/RP089-054.JPG

Photo Credit: Submitted photo