"Poets have always explained and illuminated global events and historic moments," said Camden Conference, in a news release.

 

A Camden Conference Community Event, "On the Brink: A Poetry Session," will feature ten selected poems related to the upcoming Camden Conference, "Beyond the American Century: A New World Order?"

 

The community event will be held Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m., at the Cushing Public Library. Ten readers will present and respond to the poems, and attendees will be invited to engage with the poems in group conversations.

 

Poet Ellen Goldsmith originated the Community Events Poetry Session to bring the insights of poetry to the Conference topic, according to the Camden Conference. She notes that the conference title considers a possible end and a new beginning.

 

"Poetry has a great deal to say about ends and beginnings and what it means to be 'On the Brink,' both intellectually and emotionally," said Goldsmith.

 

Goldsmith's first full-length poetry collection, titled Are We There Yet? (Kelsay Books), follows four earlier chapbooks. Her poems have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. Goldsmith holds an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University and is professor emeritus of The City University of New York. She lives in Cushing, Maine.

 

This free community event is hosted by the Cushing Public Library in anticipation of the 40th Annual Camden Conference, "Beyond the American Century: A New World Order?", February 19–21, 2027. The Conference will be held live at the Camden Opera House and livestreamed to the Strand Theatre in Rockland, to Lunt Auditorium in Falmouth, and to homes and classrooms worldwide. For more information about the Camden Conference and upcoming events, visit www.camdenconference.org.