Working Waterfront

Beyond the illusion

The Midcoast By Adam White (Random House Books, 2022) Review by Tina Cohen Adam White’s debut novel, The Midcoast, is set in Damariscotta, a town familiar to him from his childhood. This is contemporary Maine, with a close-up look at several families, including Andrew’s, who is the book’s narrator, and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering, reviving the musical ‘Islands’

Essay by Barney Hallowell//Photos by Amanda LaBell I wasn’t sure we could do it, or even should do it. Resurrecting Islands, the musical written by the late John Wulp of Vinalhaven and Cindy (now Cid) Bullens for its 20th anniversary had been on Waterman Community Center’s radar almost since its… SEE MORE

New and returning Island Fellows gathered for training recently in St. George. Front row, from left: Paige Atkinson, Hallie Lartius, Brianna Cunliffe, Melanie Nash, and Mia Colloredo-Mansfeld. Back row, from left: Kawai Marin, Katie Liberman, Olivia Lenfesty, Olivia Jolley, and Kaylin Wu. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Island Fellows program welcomes new recruits

Since 1999, the Island Institute’s Island Fellows program has placed 145 college graduates in Maine’s coastal and island communities for two-year fellowships. Fellows are placed at host sites, including schools, nonprofit organizations, historical societies, libraries, and other areas to complete community-developed projects in areas such as town planning, education, marine… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The perils of love and lobstering

Maiden Cove: A Novel By Roy Knight (2020) Review by Dana Wilde Roy Knight grew up just about a stone’s throw from Maiden Cove, right on the channel into Portland Harbor between Cape Elizabeth and Cushing Island. As a teenager in the mid-1960s, he learned lobstering in that channel from… SEE MORE

A photograph composed and made by Carroll Thayer Berry shows a soon-to-vanish method of herring harvesting. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

Harvesting the ‘fish that feeds all’

In this month’s image, Harlan Hurd sits in his dory wearing a ball cap and a heavy flannel jacket which is covered in fish scales. His son, Karl, stands at the other end of the dory wearing a jeff cap and an apron over his own flannel coat. They watch… SEE MORE

Eastport celebrates the Fourth of July in 2018.

Working Waterfront

Eastport, Lubec banking on the arts

At the end of June, I was lucky enough to visit Eastport and Lubec. I’ve been meaning to return since my first visit in 1996. Remembering hidden artist studios, downtown galleries, and a dynamic working waterfront drew me to plan a trip. As director of Archipelago, the Island Institute’s Rockland… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A sense of place

For the second half of July, I, a 41-year-old woman, mother, and teacher, went on tour with my band. Bait Bag, which I've written about before, is comprised of me (bass and vocals), Fiona Robins (guitar and vocals), and Claire Donnelly, formerly of the Island Institute (drums and shouting). We've… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine won’t sit still for its close-up

You may have read the now-infamous New York Post travelogue about Maine, or perhaps you read or saw the headlines and reactions it generated here. Long story short, a woman from the Post—who, she emphasized, has traveled EVERYWHERE—came to Maine and found it underdressed and overweight. I’m not sure if… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The view of Maine from the reservation

Night of the Living Rez: Stories By Morgan Talty, Tin House (2022) Review by Tina Cohen When I started reading Morgan Talty’s debut book, Night of the Living Rez, I saw it as a “coming of age” story, with its focus on a few teenage boys, Native American, growing up… SEE MORE

Tina Ingraham’s Harbor Fish Market, Portland Pier, 2005, oil on canvas, 30 x 74 inches. PHOTO: DENNIS GRIGGS

Working Waterfront

Tina Ingraham paints the Custom House Wharf

The facade of the south side of the Harbor Fish Market reminded Ingraham of the Italian architecture she had seen in Perugia dating back to Etruscan times... SEE MORE