Front cover of The Island Reader 2021 with a photograph from by book by Islesford’s Pat Mocarsky.
Celebrating poetry, prose, photography, and art, 2021 marks 15 years Maine islanders have shared their creativity and creative voice through the pages of The Island Reader. Sustaining Islands, this year’s theme, highlights islanders’ excellence as stewards of island resources and place.
We invite you to join us on island as you stroll through the pages of the 15th Anniversary The Island Reader. Enjoy!!!
The Island Reader is available free of charge. Please consider a donation when ordering your copy. Your gift will directly help the Mission Outreach program.
Whatever Floats Your Boat – Island Reader 2020 is a beautiful anthology reflection of Maine island life and culture.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — The Mission’s Island Outreach Director and Chaplain, Douglas Cornman, is one of seven co-editors of The Island Reader and provides administrative oversight. He tells us submissions for the upcoming 15th Anniversary Edition are fantastic, as always. He and the other co-editors are perusing submissions now and will soon begin the exciting process of putting the edition together. Look for it on the Mission’s website June 1, 2021. The 2020 edition of The Island Reader is still available. Click here.
“The Maine Seacoast Mission does a lot for people in Down East communities and on our islands. And one thing they do that benefits all of us is publish books of poems, stories, and beautiful photos by Maine islanders. Their latest book, published in the summer of 2020, is really great,” Maine columnist and outdoor enthusiast George Smith wrote about the Mission’s 2020 edition of The Island Reader. (Bangor Daily News, 8/7/20).
We changed our distribution method for The Island Reader in 2020. Print copies of the multi-arts anthology showcasing Maine’s unbridged island writers and artists, were free for the asking, donations accepted and welcome. We also offered a PDF version for people to download or read online.
While we don’t have a count for Island Readers downloaded, we did ship copies to people in Maine, Texas, New York, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, and the United Kingdom. And people graciously donated a total $750 which helps to cover costs associated with creating and printing the anthology.
Thank you, George Smith, for this terrific review of The Island Reader 2020. It is available online to read or download.
The Island Reader has great poems, stories, and photos of Maine’s islands
August 7, 2020 – Book Reviews, Life, Maine, Photography, Travel
By George Smith
The Maine Seacoast Mission does a lot for people in Downeast communities and on our islands. And one thing they do that benefits all of us is publish books of poems, stories, and beautiful photos by Maine islanders. Their latest book, published in the summer of 2020, is really great.
Linda and I love Maine’s islands, and our favorites are Monhegan and Swan’s Island, both of which are featured in this book. Kristen Lindquist wrote a wonderful story about a massive number of migrating monarch butterflies which take a break on Monhegan.
Adrian Lyn’s story of a remote beach on Swan’s Island brought back great memories. Linda and I loved that beach and spent time there every time we visited the island. You drive down a gravel road, park and walk quite ways through the woods to get to the beach, which was never crowded. Sometimes we were the only ones on the beach.
I’m sure you will find some favorite poems and stories in this book, and I guarantee you will love the photos.
BAR HARBOR, ME — It’s Thank you Thursday and today’s shout out of Mission Love goes to the editorial team of The Island Reader. The Island Reader is a multi-arts anthology that showcases Maine’s unbridged island writers and artists. It’s published annually by the Mission through the Sunbeam V’s Island Outreach program. The editorial team is comprised of a dedicated group of island volunteers who work diligently each year to solicit and review submissions and then lovingly craft them into a beautiful anthology that reflects island life and culture.
This year’s editorial team consists of Gary Rainford (editor-in-chief) from Swan’s Island, Douglas Cornman from Mount Desert Island (also the Sunbeam’s Island Outreach Director & Chaplain), Kendra Chubback from Isle au Haut, Ingrid Gaither from Great Cranberry Island, Toby Martin from Islesboro, Kim Peabody from Matinicus, and Sally Rowan from Islesford.
This is The Island Reader’s fourteenth edition. The theme for this year is “Whatever Floats Your Boat.” The editorial team encouraged islanders to capture the wit and whimsy that is so important to embrace when facing the harsh realities of living on one of Maine’s outer islands.
The brainstorm of Reverend Rob Benson, former Pastor to the Outer Islands, The Island Reader has been lovingly guided by many previous editors; most of whom continue to submit their creative writing and artwork for publication. The Mission would also like to give a shout out to them because The Island Reader would not be what it is today, without their creative talent and guidance.
So, thanks to… Anne Bardaglio, Matinicus
Kate Chaplin, Islesford
Donna Cundy, Monhegan
Kaitlyn Duggan, Islesford
Alex Harris, Isle au Haut
Livka Farrell, Monhegan
Kathie Fiveash, Isle au Haut
Rebecca Lenfestey, Frenchboro
Ana Marie Maguire, Swans Island
Erica Millette, Monhegan
Eva Murray, Matinicus
Susanna Roe, Swans Island
Scott Sell, Frenchboro
Kate Shaffer, Isle au Haut
Molly Siegel, Isle au Haut
Skip Stevens, Islesford
The 2020 Whatever Floats Your Boat edition of The Island Reader is available now through Maine Seacoast Mission. Click here.
