What's the Buzz? Tales of Midcoast Poets!
Tales of Midcoast Poets
An Open Call for Poets: Midcoast Poets Calendar & Journal Expands Its Reach
Midcoast, Maine
Every great idea begins with a spark, and this one was struck over coffee and conversation at the Thomaston Library’s Poet’s Corner in December 2025. Two very different men Len Germinara, the flamboyant dreamer with a flair for drama, and Bill Eberle, the quiet anchor who balances him perfectly,looked around the table and saw something extraordinary: poetry is alive and thriving across Midcoast Maine.
That realization grew into The Midcoast Poets Calendar & Journal (MPC&J)—a homegrown literary collaboration connecting writers from Boothbay to Thomaston, Union to Waldoboro, Rockport to Tenants Harbor, and beyond. What started as a simple poetry-event calendar has become a vibrant, ongoing community of wordsmiths.
The Spark That Became a Movement
After the calendar took off, Len and Bill found themselves asking, “What’s next?” Having worked with poets in California and Massachusetts, Len floated the idea of publishing local poets. Within days, enthusiasm swept through the Thomaston and Rockport Poet’s Corner groups.
The poets set their boundaries (with help from an official government map, naturally), chose KDP as their publishing platform, and because poets love a good form as much as a good stanza , even secured 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.
By early 2025, the first call for submissions went out. Nearly 30 poets appeared in Volume One, and close to 50 fill Volume Two, all within ten months. Local bookstores like Barnswallow Books (Rockport) and Hello Hello (Rockland) proudly feature the journals—Volume One even landed on the local summer bestseller list.
A Chorus of Local Voices
Support arrived from unexpected places. Scientists from Herring Gut Science Center not only contributed poetry but also provided the first cover art. Poetry readings have filled rooms from Jackson Memorial Library in Tenants Harbor to Waldoboro Public Library, delighting librarians and listeners alike.
“It’s about giving voice to the place we live in and the people who live here,” says Bill.
Len adds with a grin, “And it’s fun—why stop when it feeds the soul?”
An Invitation to All Poets
With the next volume on the horizon, MPC&J is once again calling for submissions. If you live or write in the Midcoast region—poet, dreamer, or storyteller: this is your invitation to join a growing, joyful literary movement.
Come to a reading. Step up to the open mic. Share your words. Because here in Midcoast Maine, poetry isn’t a pastime, it’s a movement.
Words from the Pages
Selections featured on the back covers of Volume One and Two:
Dave Morrison:
“Writer, please write
Dancer, please dance
Breather, please breathe”
Megan Berman:
“A poem is free
as winding through the skies on your own pair of wings
under and over white puffs of cloud and rising mountains
darting through the wide blue openness”
Join the Story
For submission guidelines, reading schedules, or to get involved, email info@MidcoastPoetryCalendar.com. This inbox is monitored daily so expect a prompt and friendly reply.
VOLUME 2 COMING SOON!
Volume one.
Sarah!
Ellie
Bill
About this blog:
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What's the Buzz? About the Author
Eleanor Cade Busby: Unpublished, Unfiltered, and Unrepentant
Eleanor Cade Busby is an unpublished award-winning writer, photographer, blogger, and chronic user of the Oxford comma. She simply adores writing about herself in the third person, and therefore considers this bio a personal highlight of her literary career.
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Writing from Midcoast Maine, where the air is salty, the coffee is strong, and the opinions come with footnotes.
A preacher’s kid who made it her mission to lovingly obliterate every single stereotype about “the minister’s daughter,” Busby grew up all over New England collecting stories, theater programs, and at least three kinds of student loan debt. She attended Goddard College, the Rhode Island Conservatory of Music, and the School of Life—majoring in everything she could wedge into her skull without a crowbar.
She has had her own office (with an actual door!) and a red stapler that was not to be touched, thank you very much. She has worked in social services for decades, won both national and local awards, and was recently named a co-recipient of the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award—along with one million of her closest friends—for being loud in the best way possible.
Busby has directed more plays than she can count, acted in more than she should probably admit, and written a few too—including some that were performed on purpose. She’s done everything in theater except hang the lights, because she has a strict “no ladders” clause in her personal safety policy.
Her work has appeared in publications ranging from earnest local weeklies to CRACKED magazine, which pretty much sums up her range. She believes if it isn’t funny or relevant, it probably belongs in a compost heap, not her blog.
Eleanor lives in Midcoast Maine with a cat who believes in early-morning blood sacrifice (hers), and she writes "What's the Buzz?" to chronicle what’s happening, what might be happening, and what absolutely should be happening, according to her and no one else.
Suggestions for topics and comments are always welcome at eleanorcadebusby@hotmail.com
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