Internationally acclaimed author, orator and activist Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe) will be the speaker at the third annual Maine Women Writers Collection's Donna M. Loring Lecture. A graduate of Harvard and Antioch universities with advanced degrees in rural economic development, LaDuke has devoted her life to protecting the lands and life ways of Native communities. In recent years, LaDuke has been involved in moving tribal communities towards wind and alternative energy systems, and working with tribal and state governments to voluntarily meet the conditions of the Kyoto accord.

The Donna M. Loring Lecture, begun in 2009, addresses current or historic Native American or Aboriginal issues, indigenous rights, as well as women's issues, civil rights, and issues of fairness and equality as they overlap with the concerns of tribal peoples.