This anthology, the only collection of its kind, contains the poetry of fifty Maine women, of all ages, from all over the state, some well-known and widely published, others making their publishing debut, together creating a rich, varied, many-layered volume of contemporary poetry. The voices of these poets are strong, feisty, confident, intimate, and fearless.

“As the only anthology of poetry by Maine women in print, this is a unique and important contribution to Maine letters, and a timely one. Filled with powerful voices, these evocative stories are rooted in Maine, but universally embrace and imagine multitudes.”

– Richard Blanco, Presidential Inaugural Poet, author of How to Love a Country

“Some of these poems celebrate or exhilarate or laugh… Others rue or grieve, sounding the mysteries of loss. All of them remind us that we live not only on the surface – in the stuff of dailiness – we live wide and deep, in clouds, in bodies, in sediment, in fairytales and family stories, in myth.

– Kate Kennedy, author of End Over End and Maine’s Remarkable Women

Poets included in Balancing Act 2 are Sherry Abaldo, Linda Aldrich, Muriel Allen, Jeanne Bamforth, Laura Bonazzoli, Marcia F. Brown, Linda Buckmaster, Wendy Cannella, Deborah Cummins, Kara Douglas, Patricia Fuchs, Elizabeth Garber, Shana Genre, Shirley Glubka, Katherine Hagopian-Berry, Jane Hendrick, Leonore Hildebrandt, Georgie Hunt, Rebecca Irene, Judy Kaber, Deborah Krainin, Susan Landry, Valerie Lawson, Laura Levenson, Jacqueline Moore, Leslie Moore, Susan Motta, Molana Oei, Anne Oleson, Rachel Ouellette, Lolly Phoenix, Dawn Potter, Patricia Ranzoni, Marie Louise St. Onge, Hanna Sanders, Annie Seikonia, Lee Sharkey, Betsy Sholl, Lynn Siefert, Meghan Sterling, Emily Stribling, Kathleen Sullivan, Jeri Theriault, Mary Tracy, Laura Trapletti, Emily Tupper, Mariana Tupper, Anna Turner, Meghan Vigeant, and Nancy Romines Walters.