Millay Arts & Poetry Fest Tickets on Sale

ROCKLAND — Tickets are now on sale for the first Millay Arts & Poetry Festival, set for Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 7, 8 and 9, in various city locations.

U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith will be joined by Richard Blanco, inaugural poet for President Barack Obama, and many local poets and scholars. The focus of the three-day event is Rockland-born Pulitzer Prize-winner Edna St. Vincent Millay, a transformative poet, playwright and multi-talented artist of the 20th century.

Along with recognized Maine poets, the fest will feature The Edna Project, a musical performance of Millay's poetry; a premiere of Millay-inspired music by the DaPonte String Quartet; a specially-commissioned play, “Vincent”; poetry jams; and receptions. The festival will host 35 events in three days, with 80 presenters and performers.

Biographers presenting at the festival include Nancy Milford, author of “Savage Beauty”; and Daniel Mark Epstein, who wrote “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed: The Loves and Love Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay.”

The festival is a project of Millay House Rockland, a nonprofit literary organization that is restoring the Rockland home where the poet was born and is partnering with other groups to promote poetry and the arts for all ages.

To see the schedule of events and to purchase festival passes, visit millayhouserockland.org. DaPonte’s poetry concert at Harbor Square Gallery is a separate ticket, as it is a fundraiser for the nonprofit. Of the other 34 festival events, eight will be free and open to the public. Individual event day-of admission will be sold at the doors, if still available. Media sponsor is Courier Publications/VillageSoup.

Courier Publications’ A&E Editor Dagney C. Ernest can be reached at (207) 594-4401, ext. 115; or dernest@courierpublicationsllc.com.