The Maine Poets
DOWNEAST BOOKS, 2003
More than most states, Maine has always had a rich literary heritage, including such poetic luminaries as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edwin Arlington Robinson, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Some of the work of these three, plus that of 34 other poets, make up this comprehensive anthology. Editor Wesley McNair has selected the finest poems by Maine’s best poets, with styles ranging from classic to contemporary.
Not all of the poems to be found here are exclusively about Maine -- proof of the universal reach and appeal of both region and writer -- but each verse certainly conveys aspects of Maine’s unique character, be it a staunch work ethic, a tone of wry Yankee humor, or the morality of Puritan values. Poems were not chosen for their popularity; readers looking for an old favorite might not find it here, but will perhaps be led to a new understanding and appreciation of Maine’s poets.
Select Praise
"For someone coming fresh to Maine poetry, or anyone who wants a very good feed on a fair number of chestnuts, this book is salubrious. It is the best (and almost only) Maine poetry anthology we have so far. So much the better if it leads the curious to seek out more of Louise Bogan’s slant diction, Robert Chute’s metaphysical history, Thomas Carper’s chiseled sonneteering, Kate Barnes’s effulgent ruralism…The Maine Poets should and probably will be read by everyone who goes to the well we call Maine poetry."
—Mark Melnicove, Down East magazine (reviewed June 2004)
"The Maine Poets is a gift of 38 writers, rendering the land that is Maine into words that shape a way of looking at things."
— Maine Sunday Telegram
"The Maine Poets is a fine testament to the enduring hold Maine has on the poetic imagination."
— Portland Phoenix
"Stories as diverse as the people and places of this great big Pine State."
— York County Coast Star
"Wesley McNair has compiled the most definitive anthology of Maine poetry to date…An accomplished poet and critic, set out, he says, ’to pick the best poems I could find.’ What he found are works that will appeal not only to lovers of poetry, but to the general reader as well…all from lives marked by their time in Maine."
— The Maine Times
"Whether it’s the fog that envelopes our coast or the light of the moon laid like a sheet on a humble kitchen floor, elements of the Maine experience imbue the verse in this superlative collection."
— The Maine Eagle Magazine
