By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The Berlin Library branch will host Eastern Shore author Pat Valdata as she highlights the world’s first women pilots on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m.

Valdata is a poet and novelist. Her book of poetry, “Where No Man Can Touch,” showcases the early women who weren’t afraid to break the glass ceiling. These aviators, who the local writer and the Berlin Library will feature next month, are brought to light through a series of poems. Valdata will be at the branch on Nov. 13 to highlight the trailblazers, read her poems, answer questions, and sign books.

The program is free to attend, and registration is not required. Worcester County Library’s Adult Program Coordinator Elena Coelho said that Carol Rose, the library system’s foundation president, met Valdata at an event, where she learned of the poetry book and was inclined to spotlight the piece in Berlin.

“The community will get to experience incredible stories of pioneering women,” Coelho said. “There is so much joy in this book…I hope that will come through to everyone, just how amazing these women were and what they went through. The fact it is written in poetry…you feel like you know them. There is an intimacy to it.”

Worcester County Library Director Jennifer Ranck emphasized that poetry can be daunting for some. She hopes the event will open a new literary world for community members and make the writing style more accessible.

Ranck’s favorite poem from the work, she said, is “Cream and Coffee,” about Willa Brown, the first African American woman to earn a pilot license in the United States.

“I did not know the history of African American women in aviation, so that was a really great poem,” she said. “I love the accessibility, and I think this program will encourage people to read a little more.”

Valdata said that “Where No Man Can Reach” was inspired by her own experience flying sailplanes and power planes and her admiration for the women who paved the path. The pioneers she features in her work were forced to face society’s opposition to female pilots. The discrimination was so brutal, she said, that several aircraft at the first Women’s National Air Derby in 1929 were sabotaged.

“There was so much sentiment against women getting in the air back in the day,” the author said. “I always understood that I was standing on the shoulders of the women who came before me…I started writing these poems, and it progressed…I went down a wonderful rabbit hole of research.”

“Where No Man Can Touch” was completed over a few years. In 2015, it received the Donald Justice Poetry Prize, an award given to stellar original, book-length manuscripts, and was then published. Wind Canyon Books re-released the piece in 2023.

Valdata said she is always writing. In addition to being a poet, she is also a novelist. The author is in the early draft stages of a book set during World War II that features the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

Valdata said that she was lucky enough to chat with a few WASPs.

“They are aging very much,” she noted. “Most of them are 99, 100 years old if not older, so we are losing that generation of women.”

The author received a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Goddard College after a career in corporate communications. She also has experience teaching college English and creative writing at several institutions, including the University of Delaware and the University of Maryland Global Campus, formerly the University of Maryland University College.

Valdata belongs to the Eastern Shore Writers Association and encourages anyone who wants to kickstart their writing career to get involved. Individuals can sign up online for $35 a year. The author said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings occur primarily via Zoom.

Valdata is originally from New Jersey but now resides in Crisfield, Maryland. In addition to “Where No Man Can Touch,” the writer has released works of fiction. Her novel “Eve’s Daughters,” published by independent press Moonshine Cove Publishing, won first prize in the annual competition of the Delaware Press Association. She also penned books “Crosswind” (Wind Canyon Books) and “The Other Sister” (Plain View Press). Additionally, Valdata has articles published in magazines like Chesapeake Bay, Diverse: Issues Higher Education, Soaring, and Women in Aviation.

Attendees can catch the local author at the Berlin Library on Wednesday, No. 13, at 2 p.m.

“I hope [the event] can introduce people to women who have really big dreams and try to serve as inspiration for younger women on what their dreams could be,” Valdata said. “You need to go for your dreams, work at it, and persist. These women all persisted and did it in the face of incredible opposition…I want people to see that you can overcome obstacles and do amazing things as all these women have done.”