NORWAY — Julia Bouwsma, Maine’s sixth poet laureate, will speak and share her poetry on Sunday, April 14, at 11 a.m. at the First Universalist Church of Norway, 479 Main Street, Norway. All are welcome.

“We were thrilled when Julia Bouwsma accepted our invitation to speak at our April 14 worship service. Her poetry will make it an especially inspirational service,” said Rev. Fayre Stephenson, minister of First Universalist Church. Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine, where she is a poet, farmer, and small-town librarian.

She is the author of two poetry collections: Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018) and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). She is the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, Maine.

Bouwsma has received many awards for her poetry. She is the recipient of the 2019 and 2018 Maine Literary Awards for Poetry Book, the 2016-17 Poets Out Loud Prize, and the 2015 Cider Press Review Book Award. She has received writing residencies from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Monson Arts, and Annex Arts in Castine.