Last week, Peaks Island Library hosted a reading by three writers whose books I’d like to recommend to you. Ninety-two year-old poet, Jacqueline Moore read from her collection of eco-poetry, Chasing the Grass, and two fiction writers, Eleanor Morse and Liza Matthisen, read from the short story collection, North by Northeast. Both books are published by Portland-based publisher Littoral Books. I think Chasing the Grass has a special appeal at this time: Moore’s poems focus on the fate of our endangered world, and the experience of witnessing, within a lifetime, the degradation of the land and the loss of natural beauty. Chasing the Grass includes four cyanotypes by the artist Michel Droge, and an interview with the poet conducted by Marieke Van Der Steenhoven of Bowdoin College Library. The 17 stories collected in North by Northeast are by 13 writers from Maine (two of whom now live in Massachusettes). Some of these writers are well-known (Joshua Bodwell, Richard Cass, Eleanor Morse, Lewis Robinson) while others are young, emerging talents. Five North by Northeast writers were featured speakers at the Portland Public Library’s Literary Lunch in September. Jacqueline Moore was recently profiled in an article by Bob Keyes in the Portland Press Herald, and North by Northeast was reviewed in August by Dana Wilde in the Kennebec Journal. Both books can be ordered through Littoral Books (www.littoralbooks.com) Jerri Blatt | Branch Manager [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | www.portlandlibrary.com<http://www.portlandlibrary.com> Peaks Island Branch Library 129 Island Ave|Peaks Island ME 04108 (207)766-5540