Acadia Artist-in-Residence shares poetry at the Gilley

Description

Acadia National Park Artist-in-Residence Samantha DeFlitch will share poems from her in-progress manuscript, “Singing Ground,” at the Wendell Gilley during National Poetry Month. Her work is informed by documentary poetics, making use of found materials such as specimen tags, regulations, and reports in her poetry. She is interested in how different registers of speech amplify the tension between loss and hope, and her work emphasizes the importance of perception in addressing environmental crises. Following the reading, DeFlitch will lead a brief writing exercise in which participants will write their own poems guided by DeFlitch's documentary process and they will be able to leave with a draft piece and prompts to strengthen their own process of noticing, journaling, and writing. This event is free and open to all, but registration is required. DeFlitch is the author of “ Confluence.” Her poems have appeared in New England Review, The Missouri Review, and Colorado Review, among others. She was a 2025 artist-in-residence at Acadia National Park and has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center and the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Her work has been supported by the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers' Conference, the Audubon Artist Residency at Hog Island, and the University of New Hampshire. Her second manuscript, “Singing Ground,” has been a finalist for the Autumn House Press Prize, Akron Poetry Prize, and Gatewood Prize. She lives in New Hampshire.