“Poets don’t invent poetry; they inherit it.” —Mark Strand
“Maine is not just a place. It is an idea, an inspiration.” —Edna St. Vincent Millay
Join the Farnsworth Museum for a generative poetry workshop, craft discussion, and guided in-gallery writing with poet Carly Marie DeMento. Together, we will draw inspiration from early 20th-century and contemporary poets and artists from Maine. After a focused craft conversation, we will head into the museum’s new exhibition, Maine: A Force Within American Art (1870–1930), exploring how works of art can spark ideas and open fresh possibilities for our own writing.
How can we move beyond ekphrasis as description and use the work of others as a point of ignition for our own? How might we borrow formal constraints from other poems to honor the places, people, and lineages we come from—and allow art, poetry, and chance to lead us to productive detours and surprising swerves?
Participants will have the opportunity to explore how craft elements such as syntax, sound, and form can suggest structures for our own work. There will be time for writing, with an option to share what you create.
Please note: Bring your own journal and a No. 2 pencil to write in the gallery
Cost: $45; $40 for members. Access rates available. To ensure the program can run as planned, a minimum of 6 participants is required.
Carly Marie DeMento is a poet and writer for climate scientists. Her work has appeared in North American Review, Kestrel, and Green Hills Literary Lantern, been featured in a poem gumball machine, and hung in friends’ kitchens. She is the co-founder of Desire, Calling, a queer reading series that includes a fundraiser for a local nonprofit and a dance party. Nominated for Best New Poets in 2025 and a Finalist for the James Hearst Poetry Prize, her work is supported by Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and Craigardan.
Born and raised in San Diego, Carly currently resides at Millay House. She believes in building community and empathy, and in the power of conversations over cake and tea.