During Covid in the spring of 2020, my dear friend Kathrin Seitz and I conceived The Poets Corner as an outlet for pent-up creative energy—our safe escape from isolation— fostering online a community of writers and readers of poetry and short prose.

Today, our community joins in not just from Maine but from across the world.

Our events have included Billy Collins, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ellen Bass, Richard Blanco, Kevin Pilkington, Natalie Goldberg, Rick Barot, Mark S. Burrows, Pádraig O Tuama, Marie Howe, Stephanie Dowrick, Carrie Fountain, Raviv Mohabir, Spencer Reese, as well as many Maine voices, both established, newly published, and emerging poets. 

Every past 90-minute reading can be accessed free online at www.thepoetscorner.org/events and our monthly live readings are offered at no charge.

We’ve been funding expenses ourselves, out of a passion for this work, and we would truly appreciate any help you might feel inspired to give to help offset some of our growing out-of- pocket costs for Zoom, Submittable, website assistance etc. and to allow us to do even more.

It’s work that we pursue with a passion... so many talented poets and writers have filled our Sunday afternoons with joy, wisdom, humor and always a growing awareness of the power and capacity of poetry to bring us together.

An amazing Advisory Board (all volunteers) helps to navigate and plan our richly diverse monthly offerings.

In May 2023 we produced the inaugural (Live) Camden Festival of Poetry with Richard Blanco as the keynote speaker and many talented midcoast Maine poets reading. In 2024, our keynote was Pádraig Ó Tuama, and 2025 will bring Jane Hirshfield to Camden, Maine.

If you appreciate what we do—if it brings you some joy on a Sunday afternoon once in a while, make a donation—if you keep coming back for our programs consider becoming a Friend of The Poets Corner with a recurring donation. Thank you for being a part of this growing poetry & prose community.

– Meg Weston, Founder & Host