NEA Big Read: Richard Blanco & Monica Wood

Maine Writer Monica Wood and poet Richard Blanco join for a conversation about the intersection of nature, identity, and human experience.

Drawing inspiration from Daniel Mason's North Woods and their own work, they will explore how the natural world shapes our stories, sense of self, and connections.

ABOUT THE WRITERS

Selected by President Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in U.S. history, was the youngest, the first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person to serve in that role. In 2023, Blanco was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami in a working-class family, Blanco’s personal negotiation of cultural identity and the universal themes of place and belonging characterize Blanco’s many collections of poetry, including his most recent, Homeland of My Body, which reassess traditional notions of home as strictly a geographical, tangible place that merely exist outside us, but rather, within us. He has also authored the memoirs FOR ALL OF US, ONE TODAY: AN INAUGURAL POET’S JOURNEY and THE PRINCE OF LOS COCUYOS: A MIAMI CHILDHOOD. Blanco has received numerous awards, including the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize, the PEN American Beyond Margins Award, the Patterson Prize, and a Lambda Prize for memoir. He was Woodrow Wilson Fellow and has received numerous honorary degrees. Currently, he serves as Education Ambassador for The Academy of American Poets and is an Associate Professor at Florida International University. In April 2022, Blanco was appointed the first-ever Poet Laureate of Miami-Dade County.

is a novelist, memoirist, and playwright; the 2024 recipient of the Sarah Josepha Hale Award for excellence in the arts in New England; the 2019 Constance Carlson Prize for contributions to the public humanities in Maine; and the 2018 Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Distinguished Achievement Award for her contributions to the literary arts. Her newest novel, How to Read a Book, has appeared on several bestseller lists, and secured translation rights in five countries. Her previous novel, the bestselling The One-in-a-Million Boy, was translated into 20 languages in over 30 countries. She is also the author of When We Were the Kennedys, a New England bestseller and winner of the May Sarton Memoir Award. Her other fiction, Any Bitter Thing, Ernie’s Ark, and My Only Story, have also won awards and made bestseller lists. Her short stories have been widely anthologized and featured on Public Radio International. Her nonfiction and reviews have appeared in O, the New York Times, Literary Hub, Down East, the San Francisco Chronicle, Martha Stewart Living, Parade, and many other publications. She is also the author of several books for aspiring writers and three plays, Papermaker, The Half-Light, and Saint Dad. She lives in Portland with her husband, Dan Abbott, and their cat, Susie.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Mechanics' Hall was selected to be part of the . From October 2025 to June 2026. We will present a diverse range of public programs inspired by Daniel Mason’s North Woods.

Events will explore themes of nature, resilience, and human connection. These activities highlight how Maine’s history of conservation and public land stewardship shows how our physical environment can foster hope, courage, and a sense of belonging encouraging meaningful dialogue about nature’s role in strengthening community bonds.

PARKING & TRANSPORTATION

The Greater Portland Metro’s Congress & Casco Street Stop is directly in front of our building, served by routes 1, 7, 8, and 9B.

Parking is available at the Arts District Garage, which has entrances on Casco and Brown Street, with a rate of $5 per hour. Metered street parking is available on Congress, Casco, Cumberland, Free Street, and other nearby streets. Free hourly street parking is available between Parris and Alder Street.

ACCESSIBILITY

To enter our building, patrons will need to navigate a single step. There is a wheelchair-accessible elevator and a ramp available upon request.

If you need accessibility accommodations/questions please contact us at [email protected] or 207-773-8396.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit

El proyecto NEA Big Read es una iniciativa del National Endowment for the Arts (el Fondo Nacional para las Artes de Estados Unidos) en cooperación con Arts Midwest.

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Hall (Maine)