SUNDAY READINGS, Part Four (Longfellow Days)

We close our 2026 Readings with three more Maine poets who have achieved notoriety beyond their books. Marcia Brown. Marita O’Neil and Kate Kearns.

Poet #1  Marcia F. Brown

Marcia F. Brown is the author of five books of poetry and the essay collection Well Read, Well Fed ~ A Year of Great Reads and Simple Dishes for Book Groups.  Marcia served as Poet Laureate for the City of Portland, ME and co-hosts the monthly Local Buzz Reading Series at The Yarmouth History Center.

Poet #2  Marita O’Neill

Marita O’Neill lives in Portland with her dog, Sweetpea. She received her MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has had poems published in the Maine Sunday Telegram’s “Deep Water” series, Maine Public Radio’s “Poems from Here,” Cafe Review, and other magazines. Deerbrook Editions published her new book, Wild Nest, No Prison, last spring.

Poet #3  Kate Kearns

Kate Kearns is the author of You Are Ruining My Loneliness (Littoral Books, 2023), and a chapbook called How to Love an Introvert (Finishing Line Press, 2015). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Appalachian Review, Common Ground Review, Sugar House Review, Maine Sunday Telegram, Maine Public Radio’s “Poems from Here,” and elsewhere. Kate was a finalist for the 2024 Charles Simic Poetry Prize and the 2024 Maine Postmark Poetry Contest. She earned her MFA from Lesley

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