We hope everyone is continuing to stay safe and well!

We’re happy to be sharing a new “Featured Poet” and “Featured Independent Bookstore.”

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The beautiful coastal town of Camden, Maine is home to poet/naturalist Kristen Lindquist. Her poems are filled with images of the natural world and her community. Three collections of her poetry have been published, and she continues to write daily haiku poems, shared on her blog site — Book of Days.

Her most recent book, Tourists in the Known World: New and Selected Poems is available from Owl & Turtle Bookshop Cafe, also located in Camden, Maine.

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Despite the current pandemic and social distancing challenges, Owl & Turtle are safely continuing to offer their friendly customer service and great selection of books. Sadly, you’ll have to provide your own coffee and baked goods — the cafe and bookstore doors are currently closed (look to their Facebook page for updates) but you can call or email to place your book order today!

This is no joke. As the corona virus disrupts our towns and cities, voluntarily limiting our social interactions and self-isolation are the responsible thing to do. Protecting others, as well as ourselves from the virus is key to “flattening the curve” and not overwhelming medical resources.

In the last few weeks, many business and sports and entertainment events have been canceled, including poetry and author events. In its place, we suggest the company of an excellent book or collection of poetry written by a New England author!

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New Hampshire author and mountain adventurer, Mark Synnott shares the incredible story of his fellow rock climbing friend, Alex Honnold, in his book The Impossible Climb (now in paperback from Dutton Publishing). The story centers around Alex’s astonishing free solo ascent of El Capitan's 3,000 feet of sheer granite:

“Synnott's personal history of his own obsession with climbing since he was a teenager--through professional climbing triumphs and defeats, and the dilemmas they render--makes this a deeply reported, enchanting revelation about living life to the fullest.”

Extremely risky, yet skillfully present, Alex’s astounding climbing accomplishment might serve as inspiration for challenging times ahead. Mark’s account of the events and emotions involved in such an ambitious climb will take your mind off of current events, and hopefully inspire us all to make the most of the moment.

As the weeks unfold, it is certain we will be provided with even more opportunities to be supportive of our friends, family, and neighbors. Keeping in mind it is best to keep yourself at a safe distance, and to wash hands after public activities, maintaining a cheerful attitude is a must.

Soon to be published by Rootstock Publishing (May 2020), Vermont author and positive psychology teacher Ginny Sassaman’s new book, Preaching Happiness: Creating a Just and Joyful World arrives just in time:

“Creating thriving, peaceful, and content personal lives, while creating conditions for maximum well-being for all humans, animals, and the planet, requires soul-deep transformation. Through a series of secular sermons on a wide range of happiness skills, this book teaches and encourages that transformation.”

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Ginny Sassaman is a co-founder, past president, and advisory board member of Gross National Happiness USA, and the creator of the Happiness Paradigm. Visit her blog for more of her uplifting and informative reading. Booksellers and libraries can order book copies directly from Rootstock Publishing.

And why not treat self-isolation at home as a retreat? Some might find this prospect as challenging as Alex’s climb, but Massachusett’s author (by way of Scotland) and playright, Christian McEwen’s book, World Enough & Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down (Bauhan Publishing) suggests that quiet time and slowing down can open doors to sustained creativity. Over a period of ten years, she trained teachers to write their own poems as they passed the craft along to their students, and she continues to lead workshops on leading a slower, more present life:

“World Enough & Time is aimed at the educated general reader, could be used as a creative primer, and will be of interest to creative writing students and artists in every genre.”

Her latest book, Legal Tender: Women & the Secret Life of Money was published in 2019. Read more on her website.

For those craving even more adventure, without turning to Netflix, we suggest award-winning poet-naturalist and marine educator Elizabeth Bradfield’s new book, Toward Anarctica:

“documents and queries her work as a guide on ships in Antarctica, offering an incisive insider’s vision that challenges traditional tropes of The Last Continent. Inspired by haibun, a form the 17th-century poetry Bashō invented to chronicle his journeys in remote Japan, Bradfield uses photographs, compressed prose, and short poems to examine our relationships to remoteness, discovery, expertise, awe, labor, temporary societies, tourism’s service economy, and “pure” landscapes. A complicated love letter, Toward Antarctica offers a unique view of one of the world’s most iconic wild places.”

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However you choose to spend your time at home, please continue to take precautions and to take care of yourself in the process. The winter isolation many of us have already been experiencing may extend for at least a few more weeks. The days ahead could get weird, but with a calm mind and the perspective of others, provided through the eyes of a talented New England author and their latest books, you’ll pull through.

We invite you to have a look at even more author and book suggestions, listed in various categories in our “Recommended Poets/Writers” lists!

Self-Isolate with a Good Book!

New Featured Writer/Poet: Laura C. Stevenson