Wes McNair ’63, Maine's Poet Laureate, Wins PEN Award

At an April ceremony at the Kennedy Library in Boston, KSC alum and Maine Poet Laureate Wesley McNair ’63 received the 2015 PEN New England Award for Poetry for his latest book, The Lost Child; Ozark Poems (David R. Godine, 2014).

PEN (which stands for Poetry, Novels, and Essays) is a global organization for writing and writers, and this is one of the major national awards for a book of poetry.

McNair retired a few years ago from the University of Maine at Farmington, where he co-founded and directed the Creative Writing Program. He grew up in Claremont, NH, attended KSC, and taught high school and at Colby-Sawyer before moving to Maine in 1986. His work has appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition and The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor, two editions of The Best American Poetry, and more than 50 anthologies. He has authored or edited several books, including poetry, nonfiction, and anthologies. His other awards in poetry include a Guggenheim and two Rockefeller Fellowships, two NEA grants, and a United States Artists Fellowship. He has twice been invited to read his poems by the Library of Congress. The Lost Child is his tenth book of poetry and his eighth full-length collection.

In selecting Wesley McNair, judge Robin Becker wrote:

“In his book-length narrative The Lost Child, Wesley McNair harnesses the timeless power of the epic poem to tell necessary stories of our human tribe. His masterful syntax dramatizes the agony and resilience of individuals under extreme duress: poverty, loss of physical and mental capacity, isolation from community. Simultaneously, McNair’s lively wit and cunning humor befriend these characters—connected by blood and history—and dignify the particular details that shape their tales. The colloquial music in these poems will move readers to laughter and tears.”