Within minutes of the announcement that the paper mill in Bucksport would close in December, word had flown around the globe between those whose lives have been touched directly or indirectly for generations by paper-making in Bucksport. And the brainstorming began for how residents might reinvent their town, with its strengths shining through. At the same time a complex grieving commenced, said Bucksport Poet Laureate Patricia Ranzoni.
“Those of us whose identities will always be part papermaking are experiencing feelings others can only imagine. When the mill is still, as it will be in a few days, we will still be the mill. So we ask that along with positive actions going forward, our grief be respected. Toward this end, and because the arts are a most meaningful way of expressing loss of this weight, any who might consider putting it into words are invited to contribute to an anthology with the working title, ‘Still Mill: Poems, Stories and Songs of Making Paper in Bucksport, Maine, 1930-2014, a documentary from around the world.’”
“What should be remembered?” Ranzoni asks, then answers, “The good and the hard. The beautiful and the painful. Pride and problems. The details and reality of industrial papermaking here that only those affected by it can know. All forms from all ages will be welcomed — schooled and unschooled, traditional and experimental — authenticity being foremost. All subjects and slants, all time frames. Previously published work with standard rights and permissions will be considered.”
All submissions for “Still Mill” will be copyright protected and all contributors will receive a copy of the book for which publication grants are being explored, Ranzoni said.
Send a typed or handwritten submission, with a few lines about your relationship to the Bucksport mill, its people and-or place, to pranzoni@aol.com, or to: Patricia Ranzoni, c/o 289 Bucksmills Road, Bucksport ME 04416. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a reply.
As yet, there is no deadline for submission.