Reading tonight with Elizabeth Garber, Belfast Free Library, Belfast, Maine, at 6:30 p.m., under the auspices of the Maine Humanities Council, which will be recording our reading as well as a preliminary discussion of why and how poets might turn to writing memoir. These are the general topics:

1. Tell us about your history as poets.

2. How did you come to write a memoir?

3. What has been exciting for you about writing prose as compared to poetry?

4. What has been challenging for you?

5. What is your next project?

I am hoping not to choke on my residual head cold and thus destroy the podcast. I am also hoping that I can figure out when to stop talking, as I can natter on indefinitely when I am excited. In addition, I plan to be wearing my new Franco Sarto heels for the very first time, and I hope I will not be distracted by the novelty. When I was little, I used to find new school shoes extremely distracting. With luck, however, all will turn out well, and I can post a link to the podcast expeditiously.

I now possess a first draft of my Elizabeth Bowen essay. Since I have been writing the essay for five years, this feel like a major accomplishment.