They came to Maine for a job or to reunite with their family or because they fell in love or to attend college here or to flee persecution in their homelands. Although the twenty-five immigrants who tell their stories had widely varying reasons for coming to Maine, many have made remarkable contributions to the state. Some contribute high-level skills in medicine, engineering, academia, law, public-school education, hotel management, and social services. Others have enriched the state's arts and sports worlds. Several are used to going back and forth across borders, either as transnational professionals or as migrant workers. About one-third of these immigrants are successful entrepreneurs. As you will find out, the journeys of these immigrants have not been easy, but all of them are glad they wound up in this state and are proud of their new identities as Mainers.

The Poets and The Assassins offers a historic and contemporary insight into the plight of women in Iran, a society shrouded in mystery, by challenging our assumption about a land that was once home to the rich Persian civilization. Iranian women, covered under the traditional chador, the portable walls that segregates them from the public, unseen, anonymous but restless and eloquent, have continued their fight for gender equity. The play portrays the Iranian women's struggle against religious and cultural tyranny while countering stereotypes about Muslim women. A myth-buster, the play unveils the complex lives of Iranian women caught in the battle of traditionalism and modernity while challenging our assumption about them.