The 57th event will be with author Ellen Lord of Ontonagon County, whose poetry is alive with insights about how life’s challenges show up in our relationships to family and loved ones.

Next month, U.P. Notable Books honors Lord’s latest chapbook, “Vigil,” which is a loose collection of vignettes about the ordinary and extraordinary challenges of life in the Upper Peninsula. The title poem “Vigil: Poems” honors her brother, Guss Lord (1949-2023), a Vietnam-era U.S. Navy veteran, whose defiant pose graces the cover of “Vigil.”

The event will be at 6 p.m. Thursday via Zoom. To participate, contact librarian Evelyn Gathu in advance at egathu@crystalfallslibrary.org or call 906-875-3344. They recommend borrowing a copy of these books from the local library or purchasing them from a local bookseller in advance to get the most out of these events.

Lord grew up in the wilds of northern Michigan. Her writing is inspired by exploration of the natural world and by the stories of folks she has met along the way.

She is a confessional poet with a penchant for humor and melancholy. She is a behavioral health therapist and resides in both Charlevoix and Trout Creek, Mich.

Lord often leads poetry workshops and readings in northern and Upper Michigan. Her first chapbook, “Relative Sanity” (Modern History Press, 2023) is available wherever new books are sold.

Ellen Lord’s book “Vigil: Poems” captures the nuances of everyday life and its vast array of emotions. Lord portrays an early December morning and how cold suspends time. She pictured an old cabin that was currently empty and memories such as counting the time between lightning strikes and walking on a frozen lake.

Lord mentioned the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on several occasions throughout the book. She told a story about a stoic farmer who liked to share his harvest of tomatoes, and how her garden was neglected since the death of her husband. The hungry ghosts of the past were evoked in each poem as she embraced many of the nuances of beloved recollections.

Some of the themes that came to mind were grief and precious memories. Her poem on page 46 called “Vigil” described how she watched her brother die. He slowly died each hour, his body betrayed him.

Her poem “Cemetery Walk” portrayed how grief had taken over. She states that many voices ride this wind. She spoke of voices for some of her other poems. Do the dead talk to us?

More information about the U.P. Notable Book list, U.P. Book Review, and UPPAA can be found on www.UPNotable.com.