WEST PARIS — The Maine Humanities Council has awarded West Paris Public Library a World in Your Library Event. World in Your Library is a speaker program focused on current events and relevant issues, both local and international. The featured speaker is Samara Cole Doyon, speaking on “Embracing our Magnificence as an Act of Resistance.”

The discussion will be presented via Zoom, on Saturday, July 17, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Samara Cole Doyon is a second-generation Haitian American raised in Maine–a state claiming half the roots of her family tree. She is a poet and children’s book author, holding a BA in English and certificate of teacher training completion from the University of Southern Maine.

Samara has been a regular contributor at Black Girl in Maine Media, has been featured in the Deep Water poetry column of the Portland Press Herald, and is the author of debut picture book Magnificent Homespun Brown–a Coretta Scott King Honor Book for illustrations (Tilbury House Publishers. January 2020). She is also the author of the forthcoming children’s book, Magic Like That (Lee & Low Books. September 2021).

Samara will base this discussion on her debut children’s book, Magnificent Homespun Brown, and how systemically marginalized people survive and transcend oppression through unapologetic self-love and jubilation. This event is made possible by the partnership of the Maine Humanities Council, the Margaret Chase Smith Foundation, and the West Paris Public Library.

For more information on this and other programs offered by the Library, visit the website at westparislibrary.org; contact the Library at 207-674-2004 or librarian@westparislibrary.org.