Editor’s Note: New Directions for The Third Fig
The Third Fig Review, the online publication for Millay House Rockland members, takes steps in new directions after this edition.
While editions like the one you’re reading now will still be available through the MHR website, we’re expanding and transforming our reach.
First, we want to share our excitement about the inaugural Vincent Poetry Prize. We hope many of our MHR members had the chance to join us at our first ever Third Fig event, the Vincent Poetry Prize Reading, in September.
Julia Bouwsma, Maine State Poet Laureate 2021-2026 and VPP final judge, was on hand to celebrate the poets, especially Isabel Neal and her winning poem “June.” Neal’s collection Thrown Voices won the 2025 Yale Series of Younger Poets. The event also included Luisa A. Igloria, whose poem “Underworld” was picked for the Editor’s Choice Award, and Julia’s Honorable Mention selections: Nicole Pomeroy for “All Women, Born in Distress,” Joyce Schmid for “Condemned to Repeat,” and The Third Fig Review contributor and Maine poet Judy Kaber for “The Tide’s Edge.” Special thanks to MHR board members Jefferson Navicky for hosting the VPP reading and Melissa McKinstry for her vision and her work to make the VPP a reality.
Our 2026 Vincent Poetry Prize encouraged poets to write in conversation with a poem by Millay and was limited to 200 submissions. Each poet selected a line by Millay to include as title, epigraph, or as a line in their own poem. Along with Julia Bouwsma, we too were “blown away by the range, passion, and ambition” of the competition poems. To expand the reach of these prize-winning voices, we’re making The Third Fig Review publicly available to all readers on our website. Please share these exceptional poems and encourage your friends to visit the publication online. The Vincent Poetry Prize is now an annual feature of the MHR The Third Fig Review.
Early next year, The Third Fig Review takes its first steps towards realizing its goal of producing a print edition exclusively for MHR members. The generosity of donors, spearheaded by an anonymous matching gift, has allowed us to establish a $25,000 Spirit of Millay Fund dedicated to supporting the MHR mission to promote the literary arts. A grant to the Spirit of Millay fund from The Golden Rule Foundation has been specifically set aside to help fund our first print edition.
As with the new Vincent Poetry Prize, as it was for young Vincent as an emerging poet sharing her voice in “Renascence,” The Third Fig Review understands its role as a key component of our vision to be both a birthplace and a beacon for developing the creative community in Midcoast Maine and beyond—a role that involves the importance of being seen, both to lead effectively and to shine a light upon.
We’re currently building the Spirit of Millay Fund, which will serve to help MHR continue its mission to provide community programming, scholarships, residencies, and support for writers. We have more to raise to meet the $25,000 goals, and welcome donations to this fund.
If you'd like to be part of the work we're doing, please consider making a donation. Your gift goes directly toward our mission to be birthplace and beacon to the next Vincents of the modern era. You can make a one-time contribution or become a member and receive perks like invitations to events and members' rates for online and in-person programming. To become a member or renew your membership, support us here.
We'll be sending our printed editions of the Third Fig Review in early 2027. If you're a current member, please ensure we have your mailing address so we can get a copy to you. Send us a note with your address here.
The Third Fig Review is our gift to you for helping us renew Millay’s legacy, reaching out from the house where the poet was born. Please remember to reach out to us by sharing your own home addresses, so we can continue to connect with you through this wonderfully redesigned, all new print edition of The Third Fig Review.
We’re thankful for all those who have become MHR members – your membership helps support our organization in so many ways, including taking the steps to raise our visibility in the literary community as well as to communicate directly with and provide membership benefits to you. We hope you’ll see in our planned print edition of The Third Fig Review, and in the opportunities for poets to submit to the Vincent Poetry Prize, the ways we seek to share and shine a light on the excellence and thoughtfulness of the community of creators we help to foster and inspire. We are grateful and excited for the opportunity to be taking these steps to carry Millay’s legacy forward.
