Category: Arts

Working Waterfront

What’s said and left unsaid

Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout (2021) Review by Tina Cohen People like Lucy Barton can drive me crazy. In Elizabeth Strout’s first novel about her, My Name is Lucy Barton, I had a very different reaction— I liked and was cheering for her through her struggles. Lucy returns in Strout’s… SEE MORE
Island Bound

Working Waterfront

‘This Island Life’

Photographs of island life made by Peaks Island resident Heather Wasklewicz were on display at the island branch of the Portland Public Library through January. Wasklewicz donated 20 percent of the sales of images from the show, which she titled “This Island Life,” to the library to support its programs.… SEE MORE
Marian Baker, at right, in her studio and gallery on Islesford. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Islesford potter wins crafts honor

The Maine Crafts Association (MCA), a statewide nonprofit organization that builds upon Maine’s rich craft traditions by nurturing a vibrant, supportive, inclusive craft community and strong individual craft artist practices, has named potter and educator Marian Baker of Yarmouth as the 2021 recipient of its Maine Craft Artist Award. The… SEE MORE
book jacket

Working Waterfront

In the wake of sexual assault

The Damage By Caitlin Wahrer (Viking) Review by Carl Little “The dying detective’s house was a tall, dark blue thing with chipping trim and shutters.” That is how Caitlin Wahrer’s captivating debut novel, The Damage, begins: a simple expository sentence featuring detail and intrigue. In the ensuing story, Wahrer guides… SEE MORE
Lobster Fishermen, Marsden Hartley

Working Waterfront

Marsden Hartley’s Corea and ‘Lobster Fishermen’

This column marks the launch of an occasional feature by renowned art writer Carl Little on images of Maine’s working waterfront. When Marsden Hartley returned to his native state in 1937, he was determined to become “the painter from Maine.” Born in Lewiston in 1877, he had spent time in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Maine coast, 50 years ago

Thanks to the Farnsworth Art Museum for use of these photos shot by George Tice in several Maine coastal towns in 1971.     [caption id="attachment_28820" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Bertram Peabody and son clam digging on Beals Island, 1971.[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_28821" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Painted lobster buoys, Stonington, 1971.[/caption]   [caption… SEE MORE
book jacket

Working Waterfront

More Maine voices: tales from here, everywhere

Most of the 16 stories collected in North by Northeast 2: New Short Fiction by Maine Writers are set in Maine, and most of them approach their subject matter fairly realistically. Some, though, go outside the boundaries of conventional realism. Several stories by contributors to North by Northeast 1 (published… SEE MORE
book jacket

Working Waterfront

The Midcoast’s master of realistic sci-fi

The Best of Elizabeth Hand By Elizabeth Hand, edited by Bill Sheehan (2021) Death, darkness, dismay, and the supernatural are hallmark characteristics of Elizabeth Hand’s highly literary weird fiction, and The Best of Elizabeth Hand collects a dozen exemplary stories from across her long career. The book contains a number… SEE MORE