NEA Big Read: One-night Book Club of 'Deaf Republic' w/ Gibson Fay-Leblanc

Join us in the historic Mechanics' Hall Library for a onetime bookclub Facilitated by Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, the Executive Director of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Whether you're familiar with Kaminsky's work or new to his poetry, this event offers a unique opportunity to reflect on art and silence as tools of resistance and the power of human connection in difficult times. Come for the poetry, stay for the conversation.

Complimentary copies of the book can be picked up at Mechanics’ Hall and SPACE gallery Friday, February 7 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM.

Tea and snacks will be provided. This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited so please register in advance.

SPACE Gallery & Mechanics’ Hall are hosting collaborative programming, reading groups, and workshops around Ilya Kaminsky's book of poems Deaf Republic. This series explores themes of community loss, accessibility, silence as resistance, love in the face of violence and war, and artists exploring deafness and tinnitus.

Gibson Fay-LeBlanc’s first collection of poems, Death of a Ventriloquist, won the Vassar Miller Prize and was featured by Poets & Writers as one of a dozen debut collections to watch. His second book, Deke Dangle Dive, was published by CavanKerry Press in 2021. Gibson’s poems have appeared in magazines including The New Republic, Tin House, Narrative, Poetry Northwest, and Orion. With graduate degrees from UC Berkeley and Columbia University, Gibson has taught writing at conferences, schools and universities including Fordham, Haystack, and University of Southern Maine, and helped lead community arts organizations including The Telling Room, SPACE Gallery, and Hewnoaks. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance and lives in Portland with his family.

https://www.mainewriters.org/

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Host or Publisher SPACE