Bangor Authors' Book Fair & Literary Festival

5th Annual

Bangor Authors’ Book Fair & Literary Festival

Author applications are now closed

Free readings, talks, panels and workshops throughout the day.

85+ Maine Authors and Publishers

Signed books and book-related merch make great holiday gifts.
Support local authors and explore the beautiful Bangor Public Library.

Saturday, December 12
10 am – 3:30 pm
Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow Street
FREE Admission!

Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays, Memoir, Children’s Books and more. It’s all here for one day only at the Bangor Public Library. Don’t miss Maine’s biggest literary event of the year!

Want to help plan or put on the event? Apply to join our board.

Event Programming

10:15-11:15 – PUBLISHING A BOOK PANEL – A panel discussion on how to publish a book. Featuring KJ Grow, the publisher at Islandport Press, Maine’s largest locally owned independent book publisher; Annaliese Jakimides, a professional independent editor and prolific writer of short pieces published in anthologies and periodicals across the country; and Jeremy John Parker, professor, professional book cover designer, and Pushcart-nominated writer. Moderated by author Jeffrey Hope, award-winning former television news journalist and WABI anchor and Husson University communications professor.

10:30-11:15 – WRITING CRAFT WORKSHOP -This workshop will be facilitated by Maine’s award-winning youth publisher The Telling Room (Portland) and led by youth authors Mo Drammeh and Sophia Tyutyunnyk.

11:30-12:30 – MAINE MYSTERY WRITER PANEL – Learn how to write a great mystery and why mysteries make the best stories! Hear tips and tricks from Maine’s most renowned mystery writers. Featuring Tess Gerritsen, international best-selling and award-winning author whose works have been adapted for Hollywood and television; Bruce Robert Coffin, retired Detective Sergeant and best-selling mystery author; Gerry Boyle, two-time winner of the Maine Literary Awards for Crime Fiction; and moderator Matt Cost award-winning mystery author.

This is a ticketed event. Tickets are FREE but must be reserved in advance; tickets will be available starting November 14th.

11:30-12:30 – PICTURE BOOK LAUNCH & READING – Join us for the launch of picture book biography The Cosmic Journey of Jessica Meir about Maine astronaut Jessica Meir by Maine author illustrator Jamie Hogan (Islandport Press).

12:45-1:45 – KEYNOTE SPEAKER: TBA – Our HUGE announcement is coming soon! You are going to love this! Watch our social media for an announcement.

This is a ticketed event. Tickets are FREE but must be reserved in advance; tickets will be available starting November 14th.

1:45-2:15 – PUBLIC RECEPTION & ANTHOLOGY LAUNCH – Please join us for this special moment as we celebrate this community and launch Thinning Light: Literary Reflections on Fall’s Transformation in Maine, the official charity anthology of this year’s Book Fair published by 12 Willows Press. There will be light snacks, short readings, and brief remarks by members of the community. We will also announce the winner of the Bangor Authors’ Writing Awards and the Golden Typewriter Award, the premier annual award for service to the literary community in our region.

2:30-3:15 – FOX EMM – ON BOTH SIDES OF THE SHELF: INDIE AUTHOR TURNED BOOKSELLER – Author and owner of Pro Libris bookshop Fox Emm will share their journey into self-publishing and used-bookstore ownership. They will offer lessons learned about publishing and the book shop business. Attending authors will come away with actionable advice on getting their independently published books into stores.

2:30-3:15 – TELLING ROOM YOUTH AUTHORS READING (Teen Space) -Featuring authors Mo Drammeh, Sophia Tyutyunnyk, and other alumni of The Telling Room.

Author Readings

10:30-3:00 – AUTHOR READINGS – Rotating every 5-10 minutes on the second floor, readings by our attending authors. Facilitated by author and adjunct professor Victoria Hood and the Queen City Scribes team.

Small-Group Author-Led Writing & Publishing Workshops

Attending authors who will share their areas of expertise in a 6-10 person workshop with targeted activities to develop your craft as a writer. These are ticketed workshops. Tickets are FREE but must be reserved in advance; tickets will be available starting November 14th.

Important -> If you are not present at least 5 minutes before the workshop starts, your ticket will be given to another individual from the waitlist.

11:30-12:30 – Gary Rainford – North Country Press Craft Workshop – How to Write a Moment That Matters – Room location to-be-announced -This workshop will focus on helping writers recognize the moments in their work that carry emotional, narrative, or thematic weight—and then show them how to elevate those moments on the page through specificity, sensory detail, and intentional shaping of time. Attendees will hear from four North Country Press writers: A poet will show how a single distilled image or turn of language can hold an entire emotional truth; a novelist will walk through a pivotal scene while highlighting how pacing and tension make the moment land, a memoirist will discuss how lived experience becomes a crafted moment including what to keep, what to cut, and how to honor the truth, and a children’s author will demonstrate how a moment that matters can be made clear, vivid, and accessible for younger readers without losing depth. A brief hands-on exercise will follow where participants will revise a moment from a provided prompt to heighten its impact. Writers of any level are encouraged to attend.
- Attendees should bring writing materials
- This is a ticketed workshop; Free tickets available Nov 14th

11:30-12:45 – Suzanne C. Carver – Unlocking the Scene: Finding the Aliveness your Scene is Missing – Room location TBA – Sometimes a scene has all the right pieces—and still isn’t fully alive. The problem may not be what you’ve written but what you haven’t discovered yet. Bring a scene that’s working but still feels like it needs something more. In this interactive workshop, author Suzanne C. Carver (Flight Path, 2025) will help you dig beneath what’s already on the page to uncover more of the emotion, tension, character, and complexity your scene is holding. You’ll leave with new insight into your scene, new possibilities for where to take it, and a practical tool you can return to whenever your writing feels like it isn’t quite there yet.
- Attendees should bring writing materials
- Attendees should bring a piece of writing to workshop
- This is a ticketed workshop; Free tickets available Nov 14th

11:30-12:30 – Meghan Wilson Duff – Children’s Books 101 – 2nd Floor, Room A – Interested in learning to write picture books? Come learn the basics of what makes a picture book a picture book, different types of picture books, and important aspects of craft as applied to picture books. This presentation will include exercises to help you jumpstart some manuscript ideas and a list of resources to continue learning. New writers welcome, as well as experienced writers considering branching out into picture books. Meghan Wilson Duff is the author of How Are You, Verity?, illustrated by Taylor Barron (Magination Press) and Alex and The Squid, illustrated by Nathalie Dieterle (Barefoot Books).
- Attendees should bring writing materials
- This is a ticketed workshop; Free tickets available Nov 14th

2:30-3:30 – Irene M. Drago – Weaving Maine’s History into Fiction | An Interactive Writing Workshop – 2nd Floor, Room A – Weaving Maine’s maritime history into multigenerational family sagas, award-winning author Irene M. Drago will take participants through her process of creating historical fiction, which includes images, written source materials, maps, memories, and active imagination. Participants will then have a chance to write their own historical fiction, inspired by the natural beauty of Maine and the shipbuilding, seafaring, and hardscrabble families that have made it their home.
- Attendees should bring writing materials
- This is a ticketed workshop; Free tickets available Nov 14th

2:30-3:30 – J.D. Mankowski- The Journeys Worth Taking: 3 story frameworks you can use – 1st Floor, Computer Lab – Whether you are plotting along with your novel’s first draft or trying to bust through writer’s block, sometimes the easiest remedy for putting words on the page is to have a deeper understanding of story structure. Follow J.D. Mankowski through the various beats of fantasy, romance, and general fiction inspired by works such as The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell, Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes, and the archetypes of Tarot.
- Attendees should bring writing materials; some materials will be provided as well
- This is a ticketed workshop; Free tickets available Nov 14th

2:30 – 3:30 – Ret Talbot – You Can Do That in Nonfiction? Using fiction tools to write nonfiction – 2nd Floor, Room B – As a freelance journalist and author for publications like NatGeo and Discover, Ret Talbot often incorporates tools commonly associated with fiction (e.g., dialogue, setting, composite characters) to hook the reader and help them move through the story. In this workshop, attendees will look at examples from Ret Talbot’s work and then experiment and practice with a directed writing exercise.
- Attendees should bring writing materials
- This is a ticketed workshop; Free tickets available Nov 14th

Children Welcome All DAY!

All ages can participate in the scavenger hunt bingo card while exploring the fair – many tables have free swag giveaways!

5th Annual