Wiscasset student wins essay contest

A local middle school student was one of three winners of the Maine Municipal Association’s eighth annual statewide essay contest, which carried the theme “If I Led My Community …”

Grace Greene of Wiscasset, a student at the Damariscotta Montessori School, will receive a certificate and a $250 prize to be used for educational purposes.

Part of MMA’s Citizen Education program, the contest asked students to demonstrate how they would improve their hometowns if they held positions of local leadership. Some 168 essays were submitted from seventh-grade students across the state. Essays were judged on knowledge of municipal government, writing quality and clarity, and originality.

Winning entries also will be published in the May issue of Maine Town & City, MMA’s monthly magazine, posted at www.memun.org.

Merrymeeting book launch party April 1 at Curtis Memorial

Join the authors and artists of “Maine After Twilight: An Anthology” at a book launch 6-7:30 p.m. Monday, April 1 at Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant St., Brunswick.

“Maine After Twilight” is a collection of short stories — mystery, science fiction, horror and supernatural — written and illustrated by students at Merrymeeting Adult Education in Topsham.

The public is invited to meet the authors and discuss their art and stories. The event, hosted by Bessey and Just Write Books, is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

This book evolved from an ongoing class taught by Vance Bessey, an illustrator, author and instructor who has been teaching narrative art in Maine for decades. His current narrative art class completed the stories as a project in creative writing. Also, the entire class — ages 17 to 70 — created artwork for each tale and the cover.

The class uses an open forum approach, where each student pitches ideas to the entire class for help with story construction, continuity and character design. The thrilling and sometimes frightening tales are each tethered in some way to Maine.

“Maine After Twilight,” a collection of short stories written and illustrated by Merrymeeting Adult Education students, will be showcased at a reception April 1 at Curtis Memorial Library.

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