Kristen Lindquist is a poet and writer with a special focus on landscape and the natural world. “For me, joy often comes in the form of hours spent in the field birding, an experience I love to share with others as a nature guide and through my writing,” she says.

Since 2009, Kristen has maintained a daily haiku blog, Book of Days. In addition to writing, she also teaches and has led haiku workshops around the state. She is current coordinator of The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Awards for Individual Haibun, as well as the Haiku Society of America’s Regional Coordinator for the Northeast (New England). She is also co-editor of Autumn Moon Haiku Journal

An avid birder since childhood, Kristen served as the first female member of the Maine Bird Records Committee. She guides bird outings around Maine for various organizations, including the Acadia Birding Festival, which is co-hosted by the Wendell Gilley Museum.

Her work has received awards including two Maine Press Association awards for outdoor writing. Garrison Keillor has read three of her poems on National Public Radio’s The Writer’s Almanac. Maine State Poet Laureate Stuart Kestenbaum has read several of her poems on Maine Public Radio’s Poems from Here.

If you’re on Monhegan Island this summer, you might see her working at the Monhegan Museum of Art & History. She currently serves on the board of Monhegan Associates, the island’s land trust.

When she’s not on Monhegan, she lives in her hometown of Camden, Maine, with her husband, novelist Paul Doiron.

Kristen attended Middlebury College in Vermont and received her MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon. She worked many summers at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Her poetry and other writings have appeared in venues including Down East, Maine Times, Bangor Metro, and Bangor Daily News, as well as various literary/haiku journals and anthologies. Most notably, she was included in the anthology A New Resonance 12: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2021), and her haiku were featured on Cornell’s Mann Library’s Daily Haiku Page. Her books include the chapbook Invocation to the Birds (Oyster River Press, 2001);  Transportation (Megunticook Press, 2011), which was a finalist for a Maine Literary Award; Tourists in the Known World: New & Selected Poems (Megunticook Press, 2017); the haiku e-chapbook It Always Comes Back (Snapshot Press, 2021), which won the 2020 Snapshot Press eChapbook Award; and the haiku collection Island (Red Moon Press, 2023).

Join us for our monthly evening paint ‘n’ sip workshops with instructor Erika Elizabeth at the Gilley for a fun evening of learning and art. Students are guided step by step through the process of painting, with plenty of explanation and instruction along the way.

Each month has a different theme and inspiration-painting. In May, the little northern parula makes a long trek back to New England from its wintering grounds, but it can be hard to see in the thick canopies it prefers for hunting insects. But in this spring paint ‘n’ sip, we’ll capture one in watercolor.

Sip on wine, tea or seltzer as part of this adults-only class, which is suitable for artists of all levels who are at least 21 years old. All materials and beverages provided.

Put your knowledge to the test with the Wendell Gilley Museum and the MDI Historical Society at History Happy Hour.  Gather over good eats and good times for a lively and challenging night of trivia. There will be prized! Free to all.

Location to be determined. Check back for more information.

Flock to the Gilley for a fun and informative few hours with field ecologist and expert birder Seth Benz. Seth will delve into research and share current sightings and insights. Bring your own questions and curiosity, a favorite bird-related reading, or your latest observations. Depending on weather, the group might go for a bird-sighting walk outside.