Local man of letters Colin Sargent reflects on one of the most important stories of his career

Novelist, poet, and former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Colin W. Sargent, Ph.D., is the founding editor and publisher of Portland Monthly Magazine. Since 2017, Sargent, a Maine native, has concurrently taught writing at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. His courses include Know Your Audience and Magazine Master Class. “We write for our readers at Portland Monthly, but we’re also a teaching magazine for top-notch interns,” he says. “It deepens the creative connection.”

A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Sargent has been awarded the Maine individual artist fellowship in literature and earned a Stonecoast MFA in creative writing. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Creative Writing at Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.  Sargent is the author of three books of poetry: Luftwaffe Snowshoes, Blush, and Undertow. His screenplay Montebello Ice is under option at Gideon Films. His first novel was Museum of Human Beings. His second novel, The Boston Castrato, was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in the UK.

His third novel, Red Hands (Barbican Press, London, U.S. release 2023) is written in the voice of Iordana Ceausescu, who escaped the bloody 1989 revolution in Bucharest, Romania, with her young son to hide in Old Orchard Beach while the world searched for them. Red Hands was nominated for the Booker Prize. Read the Maine Sunday Telegram review: https://www.pressherald.com/2023/06/11/red-hands-tells-a-close-up-tale-of-life-under-romanian-dictator-nicolae-ceausescu-its-not-pretty/. “Poignant, frightening.” Kirkus.

Renowned for its extraordinary perspective, Portland Monthly has been praised by MediaBistro for going “beyond the usual.” Most recent awards for the Portland Monthly team:

2018: Two national real-estate feature writing awards at the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE).

2018: Poetry prize, Col. Darren L. Wright Award, Line of Advance.

2017: Seven national graphic design awards from Graphic Design USA.