Newburyport Literary Festival to feature over 100 authors

Heather Alterisio, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·3 min read

Apr. 19—NEWBURYPORT — Though the events will be virtual once again due to COVID-19 concerns, the 16th annual Newburyport Literary Festival will feature over 100 authors, making it the largest one yet.

Since the events are virtual, organizers were able to bring in writers who might not otherwise be able to visit Newburyport for the festival, scheduled for Friday through Sunday.

Ruth Ware, Elly Griffiths and Dorothy Koomson will all join the festival from the U.K. for "Did the Butler do it? A Conversation with Three British Crime Masters" on Saturday at 11 a.m. The panel will be moderated by Lorna Ruby of Wellesley Books.

Mateo Askaripour, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, will discuss his debut novel, "Black Buck," on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. with Ryan Ludman as moderator.

There is also Ann Patchett, author of "The Dutch House" and owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, who will be tuning in from Tennessee for a conversation on authors who, in addition to writing, also own bookstores.

She will be joined by Kelly Link, author of "Get in Trouble" and owner of Book Moon in Easthampton, and Alex George, author of "The Paris Hours" and owner of Skylark Bookshop in Columbia, Missouri. The panel, which is Sunday at 12:15 p.m., will be moderated by Hannah Harlow, owner of The Book Shop of Beverly Farms in Beverly.

Later that day, Kim Johnson, author of "This is My America," will speak from Oregon on representation in young adult novels.

The presentation, which is Sunday at 3:45 p.m., also features Ray Stoeve, author of "Between Perfect and Real," and Crystal Maldonado, author of "Fat Chance, Charlie Vega." Boston area educator Natalia Martinez will moderate.

The New England-based authors include Peter Guralnick, who will discuss his new book of essays, "Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing"; Alena Dillon, who will talk about her latest novel, "The Happiest Girl in the World"; Erik Hoel, Jabberwocky Bookshop owner Sue Little's son and author of "The Revelations"; and Meg Mitchell Moore, an author with six novels and a seventh on the way who will moderate a conversation with Lily King on her New York Times bestseller, "Writers and Lovers," as well as her four other award-winning novels.

Moore created a series of short videos ahead of the festival, showing off Newburyport businesses featured in her sixth novel, "Two Truths and a Lie," which was released in June.

Since people cannot come to Newburyport for the festival, Moore and other organizers thought the videos would be a way for people to explore places such as RiverWalk Brewing Co. and Shanti Salon in The Tannery Marketplace, which are featured in "Two Truths and a Lie."

"It's nice to be able to showcase the town," Moore said. "When the book came out, so many people who had never been to Newburyport were saying, 'I want to come and see Newburyport now.'"

Moore, a member of the festival's steering committee, said her first book reading took place at the 2011 Newburyport Literary Festival as her debut novel, "The Arrivals," was released.

Since moving to Newburyport in 2007, Moore has tried to attend or participate in the festival in some way each year. Her father was a naval officer, which meant she moved around a lot, so Newburyport is where she feels most at home since it is where she has lived the longest.

The festival is co-chaired by Vicki Hendrickson and Jennifer Entwistle. Newburyport Bank and the Institution for Savings are the founding sponsors.

For those who cannot tune into the festival live, recordings will be posted to the Newburyport Literary Festival YouTube channel.

To learn more or to register for events, visit https://newburyportliteraryfestival.org.