Flower and Song

“A Dialogue of Flower and Song” is a one-act play written by Stonecoast student Cindy Williams Gutiérrez and performed here by Bridget Madden, Elsa Colón, Julie Manon, Luis Luque, and Kathleen Clancy. Gerardo Calderón of Grupo Condor provides live pre-Columbian music. The play re-imagines a 15th century Aztec literary event, drawing together three women poets from different periods in Mexico’s history—pre-Conquest Tenochtitlan, colonial New Spain, and the current Mexican Diaspora. This recording begins with an introduction and acknowledgements from the playwright.

The play is a work-in-progress. All rights are reserved by the playwright. For permission to reproduce, perform or publish this work, please email Cindy Williams Gutiérrez or call her at (503) 631-4113. If you would like to provide feedback on the piece as part of the development process, please leave comments here.

Charles Martin

Charles Martin is a renowned poet and translator. He is the author of six poetry collections, three of which have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His verse translation of Ovid”s Metamorphoses received the 2004 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets. In 2005, the American Academy of Arts and Letters honored him with the coveted Award for Literature. Martin lives in Manhattan and teaches at CUNY and Syracuse University.

Here at Stonecoast, he is introduced by Patricia Smith. Please submit your comments on Martin's work.

Tayari Jones

Tayari Jones was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia where she spent most of her childhood with the exception of the one year she and her family spent in Nigeria, West Africa. As a visiting writer at Stonecoast, Jones read from her newer novel, The Untelling (Warner, 2005). Her debut novel, Leaving Atlanta (Warner, 2002), won the Hurston/Wright Award for Debut Fiction. Currently, Jones is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers-Newark University.

Jones gave this reading at the 2008 Stonecoast winter residency. In the recording, she is introduced by poet Tim Seibles. Please leave your thoughts on the reading here. Thank you!

Amy MacDonald

Amy MacDonald is a children’s book author who lives in Maine. The Portland Stage Company Affiliate Artists have created staged readings of three of Amy’s picture books, with different actors playing different characters. With Amy’s permission, we've added recordings of the Affiliate Artists performing Rachel Fister’s Blister, Please, Malese! and Little Beaver and the Echo. Enjoy the stories, and let us know what you think!

Maria Testa

Author Maria Testa combines readings from her book for young adults, Something About America, with discussion of events in Lewiston and Kosovo that inspired the story.

Owl Babies

In this picture book by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson, three baby owls whose mother has gone out into the night try to stay calm until she returns. As Vicky Smith, editor of children’s book reviews for Kirkus, reads the book aloud, you can follow along in your own copy or a copy borrowed from the library. Then leave your comments here!

Early Literacy

Vicky Smith is the former director and children’s librarian at the McArthur Public Library in Biddeford. She is now the editor of children’s book reviews for Kirkus. She has been active in the Public Library Association’s early literacy program, Every Child Ready to Read, as well as the Council’s own Born to Read program. Drawing on all of her experience, Vicky offers this brief introduction to early literacy skills for parents and other caregivers.

Parents, please let us know what you think of this episode! Do Vicky's recommendations make sense? Do they sound realistic?