A California native, Jennifer has taught at the University of Maine-Orono since 2000 where she has served as Director of Creative Writing, co-advisor to The Open Field, and Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies. She is an award-winning poet and author of seven books of poetry, a book of essays, and a memoir. Her work has been included in two Norton Anthologies and in The Best American Poetry 2002. In 2005 she was granted the Lynda Hull Poetry Award from Denver Quarterly, and in 2015 her book The Open Secret was awarded the Poetry Society of America’s William Carlos Williams award and was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. For this PNA, she will be discussing her book For the Good of All, Do Not Destroy the Birds, a blend of literary criticism and memoir that recounts a life spent in the company of birds and poems, intimately attuned to the mysteries of singing.

This will be an in-person event, but can also be attended online. We will send a Zoom link to those who choose the online option when reserving space. There will be an artist reception at 6pm.

People-Nature-Art is a monthly series that brings artists, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work, and how their art impacts their own approach to nature.