Bangor Book Festival

Mark your calendars! The Bangor Book Festival returns for its sixth year on October 19 & 20, 2012, bringing Maine and Maine-connected writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s books to Downtown Bangor. Writers and illustrators will read and discuss their work, and will meet and talk with readers, writers, and book fans.

We’re honored that last year’s festival a was highlighted in this great article in last Sunday’s Boston Globe. Stay tuned  for more announcements on this year’s Bangor Book Festival.

See the Schedule page for complete details.  And stop by Festival sponsor The Briar Patch bookstore (27 Central St.) for books by the Festival authors.

All poetry, all morning on Saturday at Bagel Central, 33 Central Street, that’s the plan.  And here’s the lineup of stellar poets who will be there:

9:30 – Dawn Potter. Poet and essayist Dawn Potter is the author of two poetry collections, one of which was a finalist for the 2011 Maine Literary Award from Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, and a memoir, which won the 2010 Maine Literary Award for Nonfiction. She has won grants and fellowships from the Writer’s Center, the Elizabeth George Foundation, and the Maine Arts Commission. A third poetry collection is forthcoming.

10:00 – Kathleen Ellis. Widely honored and anthologized as a poet, Kathleen Ellis also is a long-time teacher at the University of Maine. She has published four collections of poems, edited another, and has translated even more, including Spanish, Portuguese, and Afro-Brazilian poetry. Nominated for Maine Poet Laureate, she is has received poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and Maine Arts Commission.

10:30 – Richard Foerster. Richard Foerster, a much-honored author of six poetry collections, has won a 2011 Maine Literary Award from Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, two National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowships, the “Discovery”/The Nation Award, Poetry magazine’s Bess Hokin Prize, a Maine Arts Commission Fellowship, and an Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. His Double Going was named a notable book for 2002 by the National Book Critics Circle.

11:00 – Thomas R. Moore. Poems in Thomas R. Moore’s first volume of poetry, The Bolt-Cutters, have been featured on Garrison Kellior’s “The Writer’s Almanac,” and the collection was a finalist in the 2011 Maine Literary Awards from Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. One of his poems was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He also has published a study of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s rhetoric and a book on sailing terminology. He has lived worked, and taught around the world.

11:30 – Dave Morrison. For years, Dave Morrison played guitar in rock and roll bars. Now he writes novels, short stories, and poetry, including six poetry collections, the most recent of which is Clubland.  His work has been read on “Writer’s Almanac.” His readings are like club performances, and they pack the house.

See the Schedule pages for complete details.  And stop by Festival sponsor The Briar Patch bookstore this week for books by ALL the Festival authors.

What’s the latest thing you’ve wanted to know? Where in Maine to go on your next vacation? What it’s like to live on a small island in the Gulf of Maine? How to catch a fish (or maybe what successful fishermen actually think about while they’re out there on the water)? Maybe you want to know how to write about your life, or someone else’s, and how to get your book published when it’s finished. Here’s one we all need to understand: how our brains work. You can get answers to every one of these questions — and many, many more — when you come hear the Book Festival’s engaging, award-winning, best-selling  nonfiction authors, beginning with Colin Woodard on Friday evening, and continuing all day Saturday.

THE BUD KNICKERBOCKER KEYNOTE ADDRESS with Colin Woodard. Friday, September 30, Bangor Opera House, 7 p.m.  Colin Woodard, author of Lobster Coast, the Republic of Pirates and Ocean’s End, reads from his newly released book, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, and leads us on a journey through the history of our fractured continent. He explains why “American” values vary sharply from one region to another, and shows how international differences played pivotal roles throughout our continent’s history, from the American Revolution to the “blue county/red county” maps of recent elections.

WRITING NON-FICTION with James R. Babb, Hannah Holmes & Eva Murray. Bangor Public Library Story Room, Saturday, 11 a.m. “Nonfiction” covers a whole range of topics and styles.  James Babb’s essays, Hannah Holmes’ personal science writing, and Eva Murray’s vignettes show us how versatile nonfiction can be.  The truth is out there, but finding and describing it in ways that engage readers is not easy. These three know how.

QUIRK, DUST, APES AND OTHER MODERN MUSINGS: Reading & Discussion with Hannah Holmes. Bangor Public Library Lecture  Hall, Saturday, 9 a.m. Hannah Holmes, author of Suburban Safari: A Year On The Lawn; The Secret Life Of Dust: From The Cosmos To The Kitchen Counter; and The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History Of Myself reads and discusses her newest work, Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense Of Your Peculiar Personality.  Sponsored by Quirk Auto Group.

FINDING HOME: WRITING MEMOIR: Reading & Discussion with Susan Conley & Caitlin Shetterly. Bangor Public Library Board Room, Saturday, 10 a.m. [NOTE: Melissa Coleman, also originally scheduled for this session, is unable to appear, due to an unavoidable schedule conflict.] Writing one’s memoirs can be a risky business. In The Foremost Good Fortune, Susan Conley recounts the experience of living in Beijing with her family, navigating a Chinese mega market and her two sons’ early educational years, before her cancer diagnosis forced confrontations with more challenging cultural and mortality issues.  Caitlin Shetterly’s Made for You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home, explains how she and her husband headed West and failed in their endeavors, but still came out of it with a new-found faith in strangers and gratitude for family.

READINGS FROM AN ISLAND with Crash Barry & Eva Murray. Bangor Public Library Board Room, Saturday, 1 p.m. Haven’t we all fantasized about getting away from it all and living on an island? OK, in most fantasies those islands probably are tropical. But Eva Murray and Crash Barry have done just that – gotten away from it all, to Matinicus Island, Maine. And they’ll be telling their stories, each with a very different take on life on that island.

FISH & OTHER ELUSIVE CREATURES with James R. Babb & Brian Robbins. Bangor Public Library Board Room, Saturday, 3 p.m. James Babb is one of the most eccentric and riveting voices to be heard in the world of fly fishing.  Babb is the editor of Gray’s Sporting Journal, loves fly fishing and isn’t above some goofy good-humor in his three essay collections.  Brian Robbins has his own brand of water-related humor.  His book, Bearin’s: the Book, Twenty Years of Bulkhead Wisdom, Quiet Smiles, Belly Laughs, and Good Ol’ Salty Tears, is a compilation of his columns in Commercial Fisheries News.  Robbins grew up in Stonington and worked as a fisherman.  He’s bringing his guitar to help tell his stories.

STAYCATIONS: Exploring Your Maine Backyard with travel writers Janet Mendelsohn & Christina Tree. Bangor Public Library Board Room, Saturday, 9 a.m. Janet Mendelsohn’s latest book explores Maine’s obscure museums, navigating Maine’s wealth of history and art.  She also writes travel pieces for the Boston Globe.  Christina Tree writes the Explorer’s Guides, including two on Maine.  The latest edition talks about Maine’s entry into the tourism industry, while giving the facts you need as a newcomer to the state, or a resident looking for an interesting day trip.  It is logically and geographically organized into seven regional sections, with clear maps, and interesting things to see and do.

WHERE WRITING MEETS BASEBALL: How to Be a Practicing Writer with Barbara Baig. The Charles Inn, West Market Square, Saturday, 10:30 a.m. Athletes practice. Musicians practice. Writers need to practice, too. In this hands-on workshop, for writers of all levels and genres, you’ll learn the basics of building your skills through practice, and you’ll start to train your “content mind”—your ability to find subjects and develop material. You may not be ready for the big leagues, but you can still establish a satisfying and productive writing practice. Beginners are most welcome, and there will be no required sharing of writing.

FIRST BOOKS: GETTING PUBLISHED IN THE 21ST CENTURY with Sarah Braunstein & Thomas Burby. The Charles Inn, West Market Square, Saturday, 9 a.m. So you made it through your first manuscript, now what? Maybe get published and be a guest author at a future Bangor Book Festival? Find out how others have done it and how you can do it yourself.

SELF-PUBLISHING FOR MAINE WRITERS with Jane Karker. Bangor Public Library Board Room, Friday, September 30, 3:30 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 publisher’s criteria can now be affordably printed and marketed by self publishing authors. This workshop 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. Sponsored by Maine Authors Publishing & Cooperative and Custom Museum Publishing Inc.