See Schedule pages for complete details, and stop by The Briar Patch bookstore, 27 Central Street, for books by all the Festival authors.
The Fifth Annual Bangor Book Festival begins today, with a pre-Festival self-publishing workshop by Jane Karker of Maine Authors Publishing, 3:30 p.m., Bangor Public Library Board Room, and the Bud Knickerbocker Keynote Address by Colin Woodard at the Bangor Opera House at 7 p.m.
Independent writers now have a whole new way of producing and marketing their books. Recent innovations in the rapidly changing technology in printing have created a boom in self-publishing. Good books that don’t meet traditional publishers’ criteria can now be affordably printed and marketed by self publishing authors. This workshop, by the owner of Maine Authors Publishing, will outline some of the options both traditional and nontraditional, including what is offered locally. Students will find out how to get the technical assistance they need, and about the many types of organizations, printers, and publishers that work with Maine authors.
At 7 p.m., the Bud Knickerbocker Keynote Address by Colin Woodard begins at the Bangor Opera House, 131 Main Street. Mr. Woodard, an award-winning, Maine-based journalist who has reported from more than 50 countries on 6 continents, will read from and discuss his newest book, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.
American Nations by Colin Woodard
In the political season that is about to begin, the culture wars will rear their heads, as usual. In American Nations, Mr. Woodard postulates that the culture clashes are inevitable, having sprung from the unique cultures in the different regions of the country. His examination of the origins of our fractured American culture has received a starred review from Kirkus and is a “Top Ten Politics” Pick for Fall 2011 from Publishers Weekly. “Colin Woodard explains away partisanship,” said the Publishers Weekly review, “…North America was settled by groups with distinct political and religious values—and we haven’t had a moment’s peace since.”
Woodard’s other books include the popular The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier,
The Republic of Pirates: Being The True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down, and Ocean’s End: Travels Through Endangered Seas.
He is foreign correspondent for The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Christian Science Monitor, and a contributing editor at Down East: The Magazine of Maine (edited by Festival guest author Paul Doiron and publisher of freelance articles by Festival guests James Babb, Susan Conley, Shonna Milliken Humphrey, and Eva Murray). His work has appeared in dozens of publications and he has covered a wide variety of topics, from ethnic conflict in the Balkans and peacekeeping in Guatemala to the destruction of coral reefs and the effects of global warming on Antarctica. In only the last two years, he has written about climate change, health care, torture, eggs, turnpikes, tidal power, Maine politics, the Civil War, Canadian opinions, zoning, Lady GaGa, nuclear power, stolen art, military history, European economics, ceramics, birdwatching, same sex marriage, and seaweed.
Tonight, come see what fascinating stories Colin Woodard can tell. And tomorrow, come back for all the other stories, all over downtown, all day. See you at the Festival!