Curated by Amanda Pleau.

Alexandra Munier has an art degree, and didn’t really enjoy writing up until very recently. Mostly because her high school boyfriend used to mock her cliche riddled English papers, and she lived many years wracked with shame. In 2009, she started a personal finance blog about being broke and single in Maine, unoriginally called Broke207. Two years later, it has evolved into something entirely else, and she likes to think that she might not be so awful at writing after all. And even if she is, she cares a lot less.

Jake Christie grew up on a farm in the midcoast and moved to Portland to attend the University of Southern Maine, where he received a BA in Media Studies. His freelance work has appeared in such varied venues as humor sites Yankee Pot Roast and CollegeHumor, literary magazines Word Riot, The Bygone Bureau, and Blue Lake Review, and Portland’s USM Free Press and now-defunct FACE Magazine. He works as a copywriter during the week and with local film company Tasty Dude Films (not an adult film company, honestly) on the weekends. More info about his work and current projects can be found at jakechristie.com.

Travis H. Curran likes to write just about everything except bio’s or About Me sections. He has written two and a half novels, some craft beer reviews for brewsandbooks.com, a one act play produced by USM, screenplays produced by Tasty Dude Films, an article published in Portland Magazine, and more personal and revealing content on the Internet then he’d ever care to be held accountable for, but that’s kind of his thing. Take it easy on the guy. He’s good people.

Douglas W. Milliken‘s poems and stories have appeared in McSweeney’s, Salt, Camera Obscura, and the Adirondack Review. His first book, WHITE HORSES–a dark codex of false memories and bad decisions–was released by Nada Publishing in 2010. It’s only a matter of time before he goes deaf in one ear.

Cara Courchesne is a 20-something native of Maine living in Portland with her partner and their crazy animals. When she’s not making up things about her life to tell strangers, she enjoys eating and drinking with friends and being on her couch (preferably all three at the same time).

On Tuesday night at Mama’s Crowbar, Scratchpad entered a new phase. In the absence of the series founder, Mary, readers were selected by guest curator Amanda, who bravely stepped up to the mic to host the inaugural HillyTown Presents edition of the series. She – and the four readers – did a great job. Read on for photos by Bryan Bruchman!

Amanda introduces a reader.

Deirdre Fulton–as Elizabeth Miles–kicks things off with some young adult fiction.

Sean Moore takes us inside the office–and psyche–of his story’s protagonist.

Andrew Lapham Fersch brings tales of youthful experimentation and laughs.

Sean Wilkinson leaves the room thinking about tooth sweaters and mystery gels.

The date of Scratchpad #8 is still TBD, but you can always submit now if you’d like to read!

Curated by Amanda Pleau.

Deirdre Fulton lives on Munjoy Hill. She is the staff writer for the Portland Phoenix and a founding member of Lorem Ipsum, a local theater collective (Ubu Roi, Blood Wedding, and the upcoming Threepenny Opera). Under the pen name Elizabeth Miles, she is writing a young-adult paranormal trilogy about New England teenagers who find themselves entangled with mysterious goddesses of revenge. The first installment, Fury, will be released by Simon & Schuster later this month.

Sean Wilkinson is a principal of a design firm and goes to a lot of important meetings. He holds a BFA from Maine College of Art and is a founder of PICNIC Music and Arts Festival. His dad being an English professor and frustrated writer, literary dreams have always been encouraged and forced upon him. He won the Brewer Young Author’s Award in 1985 and wore a clip-on tie to the event. He has written one-point-five terrible novels as part of National Novel Writing Month and one of them is about working on a boat. He lives in Parkside with his girlfriend (also a designer) where the Seadogs fireworks light up his backyard, which gives a real Oliver Stone feel to late night parties on hot summer nights.

Andrew Lapham Fersch is a teacher first and a writer second. His first collection of children’s poetry is coming out Winter 2011 and one copy of the book will be donated to every elementary school in Maine. His poetry can be found at; www.AndrewFersch.com. He directs an after school education center, cooks a lot, enjoys yoga, and wishes everyone listened to the Avett Brothers.

Sean Moore lives in Portland. He has self-published an anthology poetry and short stories, and is sitting on an (unpublished) novel. There are many unfinished projects cluttering his mind and desk. During the week he can be found in a classroom teaching kindergarten in Old Orchard Beach.

Your host Mary here with some news. I recently accepted a job in New York, so I’m moving back to the city on July 5. One of the many things I will miss about Portland is its friendly creative community, especially when said community is gathered at a special place like Mama’s Crowbar for cold drinks and stimulating conversation.

But! The Scratchpad Reading Series is not, repeat not, ending. Bryan Bruchman, the proprietor of Hillytown.com (the internet’s top destination for Portland-related music and events information) has agreed to keep the series going as part of Hillytown Presents. It’ll still be unpublished fiction and nonfiction only. It’ll still take place at the Crowbar. You can check this site for details on upcoming events and some minor changes that will be taking place; the inaugural Hillytown Presents: Scratchpad is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 23.

Thanks for your support over the past year and a half, and here’s to the next chapter!

The crowd at the CrowBar

Nick Pappas

Marie Coyle

EJ Fechenda

Colin McGough

Kevin St. Jarre lives in Maine. He served in the military and worked in the corporate world. His teaching and consulting have taken him around the globe. His first three novels were published by Berkley Books and he has recently completed another novel titled, “Deeds of Men.” He is working on a new novel and a screenplay. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast MFA program.

E.J. Fechenda is an aspiring author who has been published in Suspense Magazine and will be published in a yet to be titled anthology in January 2011. She has completed one novel (which is desperately seeking editing) and has three other novels in progress, plus a growing collection of short stories. E.J. is a current member of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She lives in Portland with her husband, stepson and a couple of four-legged critters who think they’re human.

Marie Coyle lives & writes in Portland. She has written a short story collection, “Other Women,” and been published in Amarillo Bay Literary Magazine. Her short play “Class” won the People’s Choice Award at the 2011 Maine Playwright’s Festival and she is currently working on a novel & a full-length play.

Nick Pappas has worked in information technology for that last 15 years and is still not sure what that means. He has a BA in Psychology/Sociology from the University of Mass (Lowell) and an MBA from Clark University. He writes fiction, poetry and lyrics, plays the guitar and piano and enjoys a beer or eleven on occasion.

^{Photos by Bryan Bruchman.}

More after the jump.

Development director Heather Davis.

AmeriCorps member Chad Frisbie.

Executive director Gibson Fay-Leblanc.

Teacher and board member Patty Hagge.

Education and web coordinator Andrew Griswold.

If you’ve been to a Scratchpad reading you know our venue is something special: as the sign over the door says, Mama’s mission is “beer, friends, music, prose.” They could’ve added “a sense of community, good conversation, belly laughs, a superstar chihuahua,” but that would have meant wrapping the signage around the side of the building.

Anyway, Scratchpad wouldn’t exist without Mama’s CrowBar, so if you’re a fan of the series — or if you simply like knowing that there’s a place on Munjoy Hill where you’ll always find writers and readers in front of and behind the bar — please take a minute to nominate our hosts in the following categories:

• Best bar
• Best beer selection (craft aficionados, you understand — and gluten-free drinkers, you do too)
• Best dive bar (you’re welcome, but your credit card isn’t)
• Best bartender (Ms. Tricia Pryce Henley, whom you may remember as a reader at Scratchpad #3)

You can enter nominations once a day until entries close. You know what to do.

FEATURING THE CAPTIVATING, AGILE AND ELOQUENT
STAFF OF THE TELLING ROOM
(that’s the place where stories grow)

Heather Davis
Heather came to Portland via Austin, TX, where she co-founded a youth writing center called Austin Bat Cave and served as the senior grant writer for a nonprofit, arts education organization. These days she’s the Telling Room’s development director. Heather holds a BA from St. John’s College, and an MA from Goddard College, where she designed an individualized program that combined coursework on youth development, arts education, and creative writing with her experiences as a writing teacher in Harlem.

Patty Hagge
A graduate of USM’s Stonecoast MFA program, Patty is The Telling Room’s den mother, Lead Teacher for workshops and special projects and a member of the board. She worked as a poet in the Brunswick school system and currently serves on the board at SPACE Gallery.

Gibson Fay-LeBlanc
Gibson’s poems, interviews, and reviews have appeared in magazines including Boston Review, Guernica, The New Republic, Time Out: New York, Tin House, and Verse Daily. With graduate degrees from UC Berkeley and Columbia University, he has taught writing and literature in public and private middle schools, high schools, and colleges in California, Vermont, New York, and Maine, and is the Telling Room’s executive director.

Andrew Griswold
Andrew has taught and mentored middle and high school students in Maine, California, and Washington, DC, since graduating from Davidson College. He holds an MA from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English and is The Telling Room’s education and web coordinator. When he’s not writing, coordinating and mentoring, he’s probably listening to music, skiing or spending time with his wife, young son and their labradoodle Hazel.