A total of 34 writers will be in town for the weekend, reading and discussing their work in a series of events that will take place in various downtown locations.
Events include author readings, presentations, question-and-answer sessions, and three panel discussions, including a panel on the legacy of Robert Frost, one on age boundaries in literature, and one that explores screenwriting and the process of adapting books for film.
Among the authors participating in the 2008 festival are: M.T. Anderson, author of “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,” “Traitor to the Nation,” winner of the 2006 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and many other books; Alan Cheuse, author of seven books including his latest work of fiction, “To Catch the Lightning,” a fictional account of real-life frontier photographer Edward Curtis; book commentator and regular contributor to NPR’s “All Things Considered” Susan Cooper, one of today’s most distinguished children’s book writers best known for her “The Dark is Rising” series, which features “The Grey King” – a Newbery Medal winner; Anne Fadiman, author of “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,” winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and two books of essays; Mac Maharaj, political activist and subject of the biography “Shades of Difference,” who worked closely on anti-apartheid activities with Nelson Mandela, with whom he was imprisoned on Robben Island for 12 years.; Robert Pinsky, author of 19 books of poems, who has served as U.S. Poet Laureate for an unprecedented three terms and has done many things to put poetry into the public eye, from founding the acclaimed “Favorite Poem Project” to a cameo appearance on “The Simpsons” where he read a full-length poem; John Burnham Schwartz, New York Times bestselling author of “The Commoner,” (based on the real life of Empress Michiko of Japan), “Claire Marvel,”
“Bicycle Days,” and “Reservation Road,” which was made into a motion picture by Terry George; Wesley Stace, New York Times bestselling author of “Misfortune” and by “George,” also known as John Wesley Harding, a songwriter with eight solo albums who has toured as the opening act for Michelle Shocked and Bruce Springsteen; Ilan Stavans, lexicographer and author of “Spanglish,” “Love and Language,” and his latest “Mister Spic Goes to Washington,” a graphic novel about a former gang member who becomes the mayor of Los Angeles, then a United States senator; Elizabeth Strout, best-selling author of “Abide with Me,” “Amy and Isabelle,” and her latest novel, “Olive Kitteridge”; Ellen Bryant Voigt, former Vermont State Poet, two-time National Book Award finalist, and author of seven books.; Daniel Wallace, author of “Big Fish,” which was made into a motion picture by Tim Burton, and three other novels including his latest, “Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician.”
Events are free and open to the public. For a schedule visit www.brattleboroliteraryfestival.org.
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