Words and Images held its first ever kick-off event last Wednesday in the Woodbury Campus Center in Portland. The event officially opened the door for applicants to submit their poetry, short stories, and artwork to the yearly publication. Notable authors contributed to the event by reading their work.
“Our goal is to introduce ourselves to USM students and the community,” said Robin M. Talbot, publishing director.
Nationally printed author Richard Lethem’s book-reading was part of the event. He was preceded by Annie Farnsworth, a local prize-winning poet.
Danielle Charest, poetry editor, said, “One of the goals of this kick-off event is to let people know that we want them to be published.”
Farnsworth, a 1986 USM alum, won last year’s first annual Literary Contest with her poem “Three things I might still do.” She read a new poem, titled “Beholden.” After the reading, she discussed her inspirations.
“It takes a little living, though, to write well. You need to have a bit of life experience. And it is a myth that you can only write when you are in bad mood; I have a 6-year old son and he is my inspiration. When you have a child you see the world through his/her eyes.”
After Farnsworth, Lethem read a chapter from his new book “The Fortress of Solitude.” After the reading, he urged interested writers to submit work.
“I would encourage everyone to submit their literature and poetry to the magazines like Words and Images because it is a great way to start your writing career. Success will come when you least expect it. The most important thing is to be willing to fail.”
Literature editor John Plestina said Words and Images has a mailing list of approximately one thousand people, and they get submissions from around the U.S. Half of them are from Maine, and a few come from out of the country.
“33 percent of our published authors are USM students”, says Public Relations Director Noah Brown.
The deadline for submission of an original short fiction, poetry, or pieces of art for the next issue of the annual publication is Dec. 31, 2003. The publication is also accepting submissions for the Stephen Dunn Award in Poetry and Andre Dubus Award in Short Fiction.
“Anyone is eligible for the submissions,” Charest said.
Nino Kemoklidze can be contacted at [email protected]