“But Here There Is No Light: Tuberculosis in Poetry & Prose” with Laura Bonazzoli & Carolyn Locke

Writers Caroyln Locke and Laura Bonazzoli share the experiences and cultural history of tuberculosis through the lens of writing on Tuesday, September 29 at 6:30 PM in the Picker Room. They will share a brief overview of the history of TB as an incurable pandemic as well as about the sanatorium movement. What did these institutions achieve and what did they not? We will learn about famous writers who died of TB (John Keats, the Brontë sisters, and many more), and explore some famous examples of TB in poetry and fiction.

Carolyn Locke and Laura Bonazzoli will then share how and why they each came to write their own literary works featuring tuberculosis. Carolyn will read from her new book of poetry, Between: Ray and Eva, 1938-39 and Laura Bonazzoli will read from her recently released novel, Our Share of Morning. There will be opportunities for Q&A and book signings.

Please RSVP to help us estimate attendance. Tea, coffee, and cookies will be provided. Thank you!

Carolyn Locke was born and grew up in Hudson, New Hampshire and has lived in Troy, Maine since 1974. A graduate of Bates College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and of Goddard College with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, she taught English and humanities for many years at the secondary level.

She has previously published three poetry collections—Always This Falling, The Place We Become, and The Riddle of Yes—and the haibun Not One Thing: Following Matsuo Basho’s Narrow Road to the Interior, which combines haiku, prose, and original photographs in a meditative journal about her travels in Japan. Her poem “Thoughts on Migration” was selected for the 2022 Maine Literary Award for Short Poetry.

Laura Bonazzoli is the author of two novels: Consecration Pond (Toad Hall Editions 2022), a novel-in-stories set along a fictional pond in rural Maine; and Our Share of Morning (Sibylline Press 2025), a historical novel set in a New England mill town in the 1930s and 40s. Our Share of Morning was a 2026 finalist for the American Fiction Award for family sagas and a 2025 runner-up for the New England Book Festival Award for regional fiction.

Laura’s short stories and essays have appeared in print and online journals, and her poetry has been published in more than thirty literary magazines and several anthologies. A freelance editor and ghostwriter, she teaches creative writing with Maine Media Workshops and lives in Rockport, Maine.