I was born in Boothbay Harbor Maine and am the daughter of florists. Early memories are playing hide and seek in our maze of greenhouses where rows of pots were poised to root, sprout, or bloom and where the air was moist, lush, and fecund. I liked making things from the materials and supplies in our floral shop: frilly lacy ribbons, shiny foil, rolls of brown packing paper, carbon slips, cardboard scraps, discarded flowers, glue, pens, thick pencils, floral foam, staplers, scotch tape, scissors, and a pencil sharpener that worked like a charm.
Read MoreStuart Kestenbaum is the author of six collections of poems, most recently Things Seemed to Be Breaking (Deerbrook Editions 2021), and a collection of essays The View from Here (Brynmorgen Press). He was the host of the Maine Public Radio program Poems from Here and the host/curator of the podcasts Make/Time and Voices of the Future. Stuart Kestenbaum has written and spoken widely on craft making and creativity, and his poems and writing have appeared in numerous small press publications and magazines.
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