PRESQUE ISLE – Works by and about Native American and Maine women will be featured during a public reading at Northern Maine Community College to celebrate Women’s History Month. The event on Thursday, March 26 at noon will be held in the E. Perrin Edmunds Library at NMCC, and college officials are inviting members of the community to take part.
Several students will present readings by prominent authors with a Maine connection, including Sarah Orne Jewett, Gladys Hasty Carroll, Ruth Moore, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Joy Harjo, Louise Eldrich, Carolyn Chute, Leslie Marmon Silko and Aroostook County native Cathie Pelletier. The event will conclude with a presentation of more than a dozen books, written by Native American authors and donated in memory of an NMCC student leader who passed away unexpectedly just before the start of the current semester.
“Our hope is that participants will leave with a greater understanding of Maine and Native American women’s literature. We hope that individuals who attend will be motivated to read additional works by the featured authors,” said Gail Roy, NMCC assistant dean of learning resources, who is coordinating the event along with Jan Grieco, NMCC English instructor.
For her part, Grieco is looking at the event as an opportunity to showcase the work of women writers, both prominent and those less well-known. She has enlisted the help of more than a half-dozen students, who are writers in their own right, to participate by having them read selections from the published authors.
“I want all readers and participants to understand that – although male writers dominated in earlier centuries – women have been writing for centuries, as well,” said Grieco. “There is a very impressive collection of works by female writers, including many from across the state, like Sarah Orne Jewett and our own Cathie Pelletier.”
The English instructor will begin the hour-long program with a brief overview of the contributions of women writers to the field of literature, with a focus on Maine and the Native American experience.
Following the readings, Roy will officially present a collection of 17 books written by Native American authors and recently purchased and donated by the NMCC community to the library in memory of Katherine (Katie) Pictou.
The 27-year-old mother of two and student leader on the Presque Isle campus passed away unexpectedly in January, just prior to the start of classes. She was well-known and well-respected, having served as an officer for both the NMCC Student Senate and the campus chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, as well as a student representative on the NMCC Foundation board of directors. Just prior to her passing, Pictou was named one of two Maine All-Academic Scholars from NMCC.
“The books purchased in Katie’s memory exemplify the value of Native American women authors and serve as a wonderful tribute to the mother, daughter, friend, student and leader,” said Roy.
The public is public is encouraged to attend the reading. For more information, contact Roy at 768-2734.
Contributed photo
GAIL ROY, left, NMCC assistant dean of learning resources, and Kim Ferguson, librarian at Northern Maine Community College, proudly display a new collection of books written by Native American women authors. The books, which will be officially presented during a Women’s History Month Reading March 26, were purchased with gifts by the NMCC community in memory of student leader Katherine Pictou.
