Onward and Upward Maine Writers and Publishers

I have been fortunate to have worked with the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance for almost 25 years including when it called Brunswick home. As Director of the Curtis Memorial Library, we were neighbors and I watched the struggle of the organization to grow and evolve … to find the right way to express its mission of supporting the creative literary activity of our state.

So it was with great pleasure that PPL hosted a part of the 35th anniversary of MWPA last Thursday in the Rines Auditorium. The toasts were rightfully many and it was as it should have been. Past Executive Directors, Board members and authors were everywhere. The occasion also marked the end of Shonna Milliken Humphrey’s tenure as Executive Director and the beginning of Joshua Bodwell’s directorship.

MWPA has been a great partner of libraries and of Portland Public in particular. Over the next few months we look forward to developing new approaches to supporting the cultural life of our state and city through program partnerships that celebrate authors, the literary arts and the simple and necessary joy of reading.

Congratulations MWPA!