Speaker on Local Poets Hall, Kenyon, and Kumin

Mark Travis presents on Sunday, September 29, 2 PM

Press release
Mike Pride, author of Northern Voices: Forty Years on the Poetry Beat, with friend Mark Travis, before his death.

WILMOT — Donald Hall, Jane Kenyon, and Maxine Kumin, three distinguished local poets featured in Mike Pride’s Northern Voices: Forty Years on the Poetry Beat will be remembered in a talk by Mark Travis at 2 PM, Sunday, September 29, at the Wilmot Community Association’s (WCA) Red Barn, 64 Village Road. The WCA and At Eagle Pond, Inc. are co-sponsors of this free program.

In April 2023, just a few days before his death, Pride asked Travis, his longtime friend and colleague, to see the Northern Voices manuscript through to publication. Then Travis shepherded the work from draft to book, which was published earlier this year. In the book, Pride relates what he learned from the poets he interviewed for articles published in The Concord Monitor and with whom he became friends.

During his illustrated talk, Travis will focus on the works of, and the friendship among, three local poets, Donald Hall, Jane Kenyon, and Maxine Kumin, all deeply influenced by place. All three garnered national recognition for their work. Travis will also discuss three other renowned New Hampshire poets included in the book.

At Eagle Pond, Inc. is a nonprofit organization established to preserve the farm in Wilmot where Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon shared a writing life. More information about the organization is available on the website, www.ateaglepond.org.

The WCA, founded in 1963, owns the Red Barn, a community center on Village Road, and Timmy Patten Park, a beach and playground on Village Road. It enriches community life and brings neighbors together through social, recreational, and educational activities.

Refreshments will be served after the program. More information is available from the WCA at 603 526-7934 or on the website, wilmotwca.org.