2008 Festival

2006 Festival

Camden Opera House
Camden, Maine
November 2, 3 and 4, 2007

• Charlotte Albright
• Jonathan Aldrich
• Charles Calhoun
• Scott Donaldson
• Kate Flora
• Tess Gerritsen
• Gary Goshgarian
• Joe Hill
• Owen King
• Christina Baker Kline
• Sarah Langan
• James Laxer
• Mary Malloy
• Dorie McCullough Lawson
• Matthew Pearl
• Peter Silver
• Martha White
• Brenda Wineapple
• Geoffrey Wolff

Committee of Advisors

• Charlotte Albright
• Bland Banwell
• Victoria Bonebakker
• Joseph Conforti
• Nancy Harmon Jenkins
• Tess Gerritsen
• Cally Gurley
• Wesley McNair
• Jane Phillips
• Richard Russo
• Betsy Sholl

Home

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The Maine Literary Festival is a scholarship project of the Midcoast Branch of the American Association of University Women. All proceeds from the Festival are used for the Midcoast AAUW's scholarship program for young women and girls who might otherwise not be able to attend college.

"Mayhem, Money and Mirth"

In 2007 our authors looked at the human condition through the lenses of mayhem, money and mirth. Whether pound-wise or penny-foolish, cultures clash and families feud, surviving only by recognizing, with a good laugh, that life is a comedy.
Also in 2007 the Maine Literary Festival expanded its highly acclaimed weekend festival to include a writers' workshop for both published and aspiring writers. (Read more...)

Governor Proclaims Maine Literary Weekend
click on image to enlarge

Joe Hill

Joe Hill is the past recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship. He has also received the William L. Crawford award for best new fantasy writer in 2006, the A.E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize in 1999 for Better Than Home and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella for Voluntary Committal.

His stories have appeared in a variety of magazines, such as Subterranean Magazine, Postscripts and The High Plains Literary Review, and in many anthologies, including The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror (ed. Stephen Jones), and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant). His first novel, The Heart-Shaped Box,was on the best-seller list for seven weeks.

Festival Program

7:30 to 8:30AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration
8:30AM - Welcome and Introductions
8:40AM - Matthew Pearl: Mayhem, Money & Mirth: A Theme and a Concept
9:30AM - The Early American Experience
    •  Peter Silver: The Social Complexity and Tangled History of Colonial Relations
    •  Mary Malloy: Sailors, Whalers and Notorious Captains
    •  James Laxer: The Acadian Experience in Search of a Homeland
    •  Questions & Answers
11:15AM to 12:55PM - Signings/Lunch on Own
1PM - Scott Donaldson: Recovering Robinson, a Great American Poet
1:30PM - Adventures in Literary Biography: Scott Donaldson (moderator),
    Charles Calhoun and Brenda Wineapple
3 to 3:45PM - Break and Signings
3:45PM - Contemporary Fiction: New Voices: Charlotte Albright (moderator),
    Geoffrey Wolff, Dorie McCullough Lawson, Owen King, Christina Baker Kline
5:15PM - Signings/Dinner on Own

7 to 9PM - The Opening Sentence
Several of our authors respond to the challenge to expand upon the following sentence within the limit of 100 words -
"In the midst of chaos, she took the wallet and disappeared into the laughing crowd." (Mayhem, Money & Mirth)
    •  Seasonal Desserts, Coffee, Mulled Cider at Élan Gallery

Sunday, November 4: A Morning of Mystery & Mischief

7:45 to 8:45AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration/Book Signings
8:55AM - Welcome and Introductions
9AM - Gary Goshgarian: History of Mystery: From Poe to Parker
     and In Between
9:40AM - Jonathan Aldrich: Dinner Was Served
10:05AM - Tess Gerritsen: Digging into Medical History &
     Weaving Research into the Novel
10:45AM - Did the Butler Do It? with Tess Gerritsen (moderator),
     Kate Flora, Gary Goshgarian, Joe Hill, Sarah Langan, Matthew Pearl
12:15PM - Wrap-up and 2008 Maine Literary Festival Highlights
12:15 to 1:15PM - Book Signings