Award-winning writer Monica Wood’s new novel has just been released: How to Read a Book, "an unsparingly honest and profoundly hopeful story about letting go of guilt, seizing second chances, and the power of books to change our lives." One early review described it as “a finely wrought story, gorgeously told, with deeply memorable characters.” (Kirkus, starred review). Her play “Saint Dad,” debuted last fall before sell-out audiences at Portland Stage. Her memoir When We Were the Kennedys, was a New England bestseller, Oprah magazine summer-reading pick, and winner of the May Sarton Memoir Award. Her novel The One-in-a-Million Boy was translated into 20 languages and sold in over 30 countries.

Monica is the recipient of the Sara Josepha Hale award for excellence in New England literary arts (2024), the Maine Humanities Council Carlson Prize for contributions to the public humanities (2019), and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Distinguished Achievement Award for contributions to the literary arts (2016). FMI: Monica Wood

Philip Bermingham, a distinguished portrait photographer based in Washington, D.C., is known for his artful images of politicians, diplomats, and world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Philip’s recent publication, Portraiture: Philip Bermingham On the Job, offers a glimpse into the world of his photography and shares the stories behind his captivating portraits. Among his notable achievements, his portrait of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was chosen by the United States Postal Service to grace a “Forever” stamp. In addition to portraiture, Philip is known for his stunning photos of the Biddeford Pool landscape. Philip’s photographs (portraits and Biddeford Pool photos) will be on display at the Biddeford Pool Community Center this summer.

FMI: Philip Bermingham Photography

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be held at the Biddeford Pool Community Center. His photography exhibit will be open 4:30-6:45 PM Thursday, Aug. 1, just before his 7 PM talk.

Dr. Matthew Edney, Osher Chair in the History of Cartography (USM), will guide us on John Smith’s travels along the New England Coast in 1614, explore some of the reasons for mapping the English colonies in New England between 1630 and 1765, and trace the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s efforts to expand into present-day Maine. Dr. Edney will draw on maps from the vast collection of the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education at USM, the

Maine Historical Society, the rare book libraries at Harvard, Brown, and Yale universities, the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the National Archives of the United Kingdom. Originally from the United Kingdom, Dr. Edney came to the University of Southern Maine in 1995 to serve as faculty scholar in the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education.

FMI: Osher Map Library

Author Nick Fuller Googins’ debut novel, The Great Transition, was published in 2023. Called “electrifyingly relevant,” it focuses on the near-future world as individuals, families, and countries cope with the aftermath of the climate crisis.

Googins’ short fiction and essays have appeared in The Paris Review, Men’s Health, The Boston Globe, The Sun, The Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. He lives in Maine and works as an elementary school teacher. He is a member of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, as well as the National Education Association, and he is a founding member of the Biddeford-Saco Climate Action Team.

FMI: Nick Fuller Googins