* = moderator
Schedule subject to change!
Author & Moderator Bios Here
Thursday, November 12
Trade House, 156 Derby Street, Salem, MA
7:00 PM: Enduring Hawthorne
Salem Lit Fest is excited to bring back Enduring Hawthorne with a special conversation with Charles Baraw of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society and Ben Wickey, author/illustrator of More Weight. The evening will feature a special performance of Hawthorne’s short story “Feathertop,” adapted to folksong by local musician, Dan Blakeslee, and accompanied by a crankie created by Ben Wickey.
Started in 2019 as a marathon reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works, Enduring Hawthorne has become a highlight of the Salem Literary Festival schedule. The event, presented in partnership with The House of the Seven Gables, NPS, Essex Heritage, The Salem Athenaeum, and Theater in the Open, celebrates Salem’s most famous author while inspiring today’s readers and writers.
Friday, November 13
Salem Athenaeum, 337 Essex Street
7:00 PM: Local Lit
Join us for a local author reading!
Saturday, November 14
Children’s Lit Fest
Community Life Center, 401 Bridge Street
9:00–9:30 AM: Sensory Friendly Story Time — Room 201 (2nd floor)
Vicki Johnson, Mac Wears a Hat
10:00–11:00 AM: Story Time — CLC Great Room
Kaija Langley, A Century for Caroline
Vicki Johnson, Mac Wears a Hat
Josh Funk, Dino Door
11:00–Noon: Crafts, snacks & book signings — CLC Great Room
Adult Author Panels and Conversations
Tabernacle Congregational Church, 50 Washington Street
Tabernacle Sessions held in the Sanctuary and Emerson Hall
11:00 AM: Salem in the Popular Imagination (Sanctuary)
Allie DelFranco, Witch City TV show
Kate Fox*, Executive Director, Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
Aleese Lin, Samantha Spuk: Paranormal Wedding Planner
Beverly Cooper Pierce, The Rowans
12:00 PM: New England Poetry Society Reading (Emerson Hall)
John J. Ronan
Catherine Strisik
1:00 PM: Reclaimed Voices: Rewriting History through Fiction (Sanctuary)
Nancy Bernhard*, Double Standard Sporting House
Jennifer N. Brown, The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton
Emily Franklin, Love and Other Monsters
Stephen P. Kiernan, Pollock’s Last Lover
2:00 PM: Parental Problems (Emerson Hall)
Victor Suthammanont, Hollow Spaces
Edwin Hill, What Happened Next
Karen Winn, The Society
Diane Stern*
3:00 PM: Book Buzz: Reviews and Recommendations (Sanctuary)
Michele Cobb, Kirkus Audiobook Reviews
Kat Cooper, The Faye Chapters
Sara Sheckells*
4:00 PM: Magic in the Mind: Neurodiversity Through Magical Realism (YA)
(Emerson Hall)
Betsy Ellor*, Hera: Kingdom of Lies
Matthew Phillion, The Indestructibles series
L. Ryan Storms, Slip
Alexandra Villasante, Fireblooms
5:00 PM: Women Writing Horror: Bugs, Bodies, & Things That Go Bump (Sanctuary)
Rebecca Baum, The Brood
Christa Carmen, How To Fake A Haunting, The Daughters of Block Island
Tanya Eby, Primal, The Takers
Sara Sheckells*
Sunday, November 15
Virtual Session
12:00 PM: Drawing Memory: Graphic Novels and the Stories History Should not Forget
Derf Backderf, The Dissidents: Autocrats! Vigilantes! Communists! And Cartoonists!
Pablo Leon, Silenced Voices
Tahneer Oksman, How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses?
Maria van Lieshout*, Song of a Blackbird
In-person Sessions
Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square
2:30 PM: AI and mRNA: Hot Topics in Science & Tech
Thomas Levenson, A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters and Cynics who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines
Roopika Risam, Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate
4:00 PM: One Book, One Salem
Pieces of Salem: An Anthology of Salem Voices