This is an evening of dramatic readings of excerpts from the letters and writings of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Rachel Carson, performed by playwright Carolyn Gage with performances by Kathryn Robyn, Katharine Turok and members of Bare Portland Theatre, including Catherine Buxton.

The diaries, poems, letters and other writings of these Maine writers have provided inspiration for Gage, who focuses on two writers’ secret lesbian lives, while drawing focus to important accomplishments of just two from a long list of Maine lesbian writers including Marguerite Yourcenar, May Sarton, Sarah Orne Jewett, Ruth Moore and Lura Beam.

Carolyn Gage, whose work appears in thirty-five anthologies has received numerous awards, including Lambda Literary Award in Drama for best LGBT books in the US (The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Selected Plays), and Award in Drama from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, to name only a few.

Gage’s essays and short stories have been published in The Michigan Quarterly Review, Dignity: A Journal of Sexual Exploitation and Violence, Trivia, Sinister Wisdom, Lesbian Ethics, The Lesbian Review of Books, The Gay and Lesbian Review, and off our backs. She has written the first book of lesbian themed scenes and monologues. Gage was the subject of a national documentary and anti-bullying campaign that premiered at the Frameline International Film Festival in San Francisco.