Maine Nature Poetry Mini-series: Gary Lawless

For many of us, the power of nature serves as an inspiration for art, poetry, and action. To recognize the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and April as National Poetry Month, the Natural Resources Council of Maine created this special series of five podcasts featuring poems by Maine-based poets. In this poetry reading and conversation you’ll hear from poet, bookstore owner, book editor, publisher, and Bates College associate professor of literature Gary Lawless of Nobleboro, Maine. Gary Lawless is a poet, book editor, publisher, and co-owner of Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick. He is an associate professor of literature at Bates College in Lewiston and has been poet-in-residence for the town of Sitka, Alaska, and for the National Park Service at Isle Royale National Park at Lake Superior. After graduating from Colby College in 1973, Lawless left Maine to spend a year in California studying with poet Gary Snyder. When Lawless returned to Maine, he brought the idea of the budding bioregional movement with him. In 1987, he organized a Gulf of Maine Bioregional Congress, bringing together a diverse group of back-to-the-land and "green" folks from across northern New England and eastern Canada for a four-day series of workshops and presentations.