In his award-winning poetry collection POEMS FROM THE WILDERNESS, Middlebury poet Jack Mayer shares poems composed while solo-hiking Vermont's Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail. They are inspired by the beauty, mystery, healing, and inspiration he experiences walking alone in wilderness—the “wilderness effect.” Dr. Mayer will also discuss the “wilderness effect” and some of the science behind this phenomenon.

Though deeply personal, Jack hopes these poems will resonate with those pieces of wilderness we all carry within us and offer respite in these challenging pandemic times. POEMS FROM THE WILDERNESS won the Proverse Prize 2019 (First Prize), an international literary competition. His other books LIFE IN A JAR and BEFORE THE COURT OF HEAVEN have garnered 26 awards and recognitions. He is a speaker for the Vermont Humanities Council and a pediatrician in Middlebury, VT.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOysqz8tHdXNhGzPQF2dkMQjSZQu0Ld3

“Poems from the Wilderness”

Wilderness inspired poems composed on the trail by a Vermont doctor/poet, sharing his love of the backcountry, trail-walking, camping, and the "wilderness effect," a unique sensation of aliveness and deep connection. Mayer's poetry explores our human experience of the natural world, our intimate and mysterious connections to flora and fauna. It proclaims the opportunity that walking mindfully in the wilderness offers to experience the divine.

Permission to quote any poem or use any video recording must be referred to both the author and the publisher, giving enough time for the request to be processed.