Introducing Gibson Fay-LeBlanc: 2015 Frost Place Conference on Poetry and Teaching Faculty

This morning I saw a robin. Granted, the temperature was 12 below zero and the robin was horrified, but she did remind me that summer will return (though I have my doubts that she'll be around to see it). Thus, I've decided that it's time for me to start introducing you to the faculty of the 2015 Frost Place Conference on Poetry and Teaching.

In addition to our three returning faculty members (Teresa Carson, Baron Wormser, and me), we will be featuring two guest poets, each of whom will teach for a full day and then hold a public poetry reading in the evening.

Our Monday guest is Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, whose first collection of poems, Death of a Ventriloquist, won the Vassar Miller Prize and was published in 2012. Born and raised in Chicago, he has taught writing and literature in public and private middle schools, high schools, and colleges in California, Vermont, New York, and Maine. In 2011 the Portland Press Herald named him one of Maine’s “emerging leaders” in recognition of his work at the Telling Room, a nonprofit writing center in Portland focusing on young writers ages 6 through 18. Gibson is the former executive director of the Telling Room and he still regularly teaches writing there. He also has a homemade hockey rink in his backyard.

For samples of Gibson's work, visit his website, which also includes details about his teaching history. If you want to know more about the hockey rink, you'll have to ask him when you see him.

Remember, the Conference on Poetry and Teaching is not limited to K-12 teachers. Past participants have included social workers, poetry-workshop leaders, administrators, civil servants, undergraduates, MFA students, and university professors. We are open to anyone who is eager to make poetry a more intense part of everyday life.

If you have questions about the program (pedagogy, grad credits, scholarships, food, wildlife, accessibility, etc.) or would like to speak with a former participant about his or her experiences, please contact me. I would love to talk with you.