Wesley McNair is an American poet, writer, editor, and professor who has written 10 volumes of poetry. He served as the poet laureate of Maine from 2011 to 2016. McNair offers insights into his lifelong passion for writing and the influences that have shaped his work. McNair is scheduled to read his poems at the Scarborough Public Library on Oct. 24, where he plans to delve into his journey as a poet and the range of emotions his work explores.

McNair’s journey as a writer started at a young age, revealing his knack for storytelling. At just 4 years old, he mirrored his newspaper reporter father by creating a makeshift newspaper, though it consisted of nothing but scribbles on typing paper. “When my parents caught up to me, I was at a neighbor’s house trying to sell it,” McNair said.

McNair’s first poem was a one-word poem he wrote when he was 7. “By then, my father had abandoned the family, which consisted then of my mother, my two brothers, and me,” McNair explained. McNair designed a wanted poster, featuring his father’s visage in the center, prominently displaying the word “Wanted” in uppercase letters. This creation conveyed both his father’s wrongdoing and the deep longing for his return. McNair reflected on how this single word held a dual meaning, even if he and his mother initially missed its subtlety. “Looking back, I see that word ‘wanted’ as a poem because it said two things at once,” McNair said.

As he embarked on his writing journey, McNair’s literary horizons expanded significantly. His high school friendship with fellow aspiring poet John Hewett had a profound impact on his reading choices. Hewett’s generous gift of a box of books introduced McNair to the modern literary tradition, encompassing authors such as Faulkner, Hemingway, Dos Passos, McCullers, Kerouac, Solzhenitsyn, as well as poetry by Cummings, Ferlinghetti, Frost, Williams, Moore, and Eliot. This collection of literature opened his eyes to the possibilities of publishing poetry and encouraged him to embark on his own writing journey.

McNair’s writing is deeply rooted in his sense of place and his understanding of what feels like home, he said. “Since I was raised in a broken home on the other side of the tracks, I became familiar with underclass and working-class people early in my life, rural people who, to quote Bruce Springsteen, were ‘working on a dream’,” McNair said. McNair’s poetry extends beyond his home state of Maine to include the Ozarks, where his mother’s roots lie, and rural Virginia. Through his work, he aims to represent the millions of people across the United States who share these backgrounds, contributing to a broader sense of what it means to be American.

McNair’s trilogy of poems is not a single work but rather a collection of three distinct pieces that evolved over time. “My Brother Running,” the first in the series, laid the foundation for the subsequent poems, each linking a crisis in McNair’s family to an American crisis. McNair said that over the next 25 years, the content of the additional poems was revealed to him. “The national crisis in my first narrative was the explosion of the Challenger shuttle; the second poem dealt with the Iraq War and other American wars; and the third poem featured the hurt and destruction of the Trump years, which, Lord knows, are still upon us,” McNair said. The trilogy offers a chronological perspective on the changes and challenges America has faced over McNair’s lifetime.

McNair is scheduled to read his poems at the Scarborough Library on Oct. 24. “I think I’ll try the general theme of how I became a poet and grew as a poet, especially since most of my growing years have taken place right here in Maine. I’ll just add that I believe poets should play on the full keyboard of feeling, so I’ll be including poems that range from sorrow to humor and even joy,” McNair replied when asked about his upcoming visit to the library.

“Wesley McNair was my introduction to modern Maine poetry and remains one of my very favorites,” said Elsa Rowe, Scarborough Public Library’s community engagement manager. “We’re so pleased to have him join us as part of our ongoing poetry series in honor of Scarborough poet Ann Hammond. I heard him perform years ago and the evening stuck with me as a delightful memory, so I am sure hearing him at Scarborough Public Library will be wonderful and I’m looking forward to it.”

McNair will be at the Scarborough Public Library on Oct. 24 from 7 p.m to 8 p.m. The event is titled “An evening with Wesley McNair, poet.” The library is located at 48 Gorham Road in Scarborough.

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