Gary Lawless Papers

Gary Lawless is a poet, bookstore owner, book editor, and publisher, born in Belfast and living now in Nobleboro. He is co-owner of Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick (with Beth Leonard) and owner of the publishing company Blackberry Books in Nobleboro.

He is an associate professor of literature at Bates College in Lewiston, where he teaches courses in creative writing and environmental literature. Lawless has been poet-in-residence for the town of Sitka, Alaska, and for the National Park Service at Isle Royale National Park at Lake Superior, in 1998, and he taught creative writing for five years in MSAD 75's adult education program.

After graduating from Colby College in 1973, Lawless left Maine to spend a year in California studying with poet Gary Snyder. When Lawless returned to Maine, he brought the idea of the budding bioregional movement with him. In 1987, he organised a Gulf of Maine Bioregional Congress, bringing together a diverse group of back-to-the-land and "green" folks from across northern New England and eastern Canada for a four-day series of workshops and presentations.

Lawless has written and edited several books, all with the common theme of ecological integrity and spirit (from Maine State Library, accessed 5/22/2018).