Upcoming events, literary news, workshops, and more
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#1 Black Fly Writers Retreat: Registration Open!
Registration is open for our fiction, nonfiction, and memoir workshops at the Black Fly Writers Retreat, April 30 to May 3 at the Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor. Brandon Keim will lead the nonfiction workshop "Writing About Animals," Gretchen Legler will lead the memoirists, and Brock Clarke will lead the fiction writers in "Lifting Up Your Reader's Heart." We also have an option for those who would like to have a manuscript review, be with and work alongside their fellow writers for the long weekend, and skip the workshop.
#2 Crime Wave: Early Bird Registration Closes Next Wednesday
The Maine Crime Wave, on May 30 in Portland, will feature dynamic roundtable conversations around the theme Sharpening the Blade: Craft. Community. Career.
Early bird registration is open through March 11. Please stay tuned for more details about the conference, including the list of writers who will be featured alongside 2026 CrimeMaster Ron Currie.
#3 Poets Patrick Rosal and Adrian Blevins Featured at GMC
The Great Mother Conference is an annual gathering for poets, storytellers, artists, musicians, dancers, and seekers of images arising from a deep well of imagination. At this year's GREAT MOTHER CONFERENCE, May 20-May 27, 2026, at Camp Manitou, Oakland, ME, teachers including poets Patrick Rosal and Adrian Blevins, community poet Matthew Yeager, performance storyteller Jay Leeming, performance artist Matthew Glassman, and musicians Lily Henley and Duncan Wickel will hold space for inspiration, and recalibration in uncertain times—to help us remember who we are, how we belong, and what it means to be alive together. Scholarship and financial aid are available.
Give & Take is a members-only benefit that connects writers of all levels who are interested in working with a critique partner to have their own work critiqued and to critique others’ work. Open to applications through 3/16.
“Jorge Luis Borges writes in the essay "Narrative Art and Magic" that a novel (or, I would add, a longish short story) “should be a rigorous scheme of attentions, echoes, and affinities.” I think two cycles of narrative is the perfect amount of time to allow the reader to kind of forget something, and two appearances of a thing is the right number for the third appearance to feel magical.” —Benjamin Hale
Thursdays, March 12 - April 9 | 6 to 9 PM | Online
Time in fiction is tricky to get right. We are often restricted to a certain set of pages, and yet novels can span decades. In other moments, a scene or story might take place over a single night or day. How can a writer appropriately handle time in these instances? And how can he/she craft work that seamlessly travels between one scene or flashback and another?
Using The Art of Time in Fiction: As Long As It Takes (Graywolf Press) as our guide, we will look at flashforwards and flashbacks; pacing; scene breaks; and movement between scenes. We will study excerpts from Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, exploring her brilliant use of time in fiction. We’ll also workshop our own pieces, paying particular attention to how time is handled in each writer’s submission...MORE
Megan Turner is a graduate of the MFA Program for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her work has appeared in Witness, Atticus Review, Rio Grande Review, Fiction International, and others. Originally from Baltimore, Megan grew up in Harrogate, England, and Columbia, Maryland. She now lives in Brunswick.
TODAY at 11 AM Mechanics’ Hall’s inaugural Writer-in-Residence, Mira Ptacin, holds drop-in office hours on the first Thursday of every month. Think of it as a writer’s clinic – show up with your questions, your half-formed ideas, your craft conundrums, or just a desire to talk about storytelling with someone who really means it.
TONIGHT at 7 PM Mary Donlon presents Mundane Magic with Andrew Zarro at Print: A Bookstore. Donlon is the co-host of the Demystify Magic podcast. INFO
TONIGHT at 7 PM Helen Whybrow, author of The Salt Stones: Seasons in a Shepherds Life at Left Bank Books in Belfast. INFO
TONIGHT at 6 PM Jen Dupree will launch her new book, Slow Motion: A Memoir of Friendship, Advocacy, and Disability in conversation with MWPA's own Taryn Bowe at Longfellow Books in Portland. INFO
TONIGHT at 5:30 PM Amber Hathaway, Dr. Ewa Kleczyk, Moe Claire, and Suzanne Carver will be participating in a Sip & Sign Women's History Month Author Panel at The Store Ampersand in Orono. Non-alcoholic drinks will be available. INFO
FRIDAY MARCH 6 at 12PM Robin Merle will discuss her new novel A Dangerous Friendship at the Scarborough Public Library.
FRIDAY MARCH 6 at 6 PM Bold Magazine Shop will be hosting an Industry Night gathering bringing together editors, writers, designers, and publishers (604 Congress St., Portland).
SATURDAY, MARCH 7 at 5 PM Anodyne Book Shop in Searsport hosts an Ekphrastic workshop led by Annaliese Jakimides in response to artwork by Sally Stanton. There's no right or wrong way to do ekphrastic but techniques will be explored, prompts provided, and work will emerge. INFO
SATURDAY, MARCH 7 at 2:45 PM The Local Buzz Reading Series features features poet Sidney Wade and fiction writer Anne Elliot at the Yarmouth History Center. The reading is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, and parking available on site and across East Main Street at Royal River Park.
SUNDAY, MARCH 8 at 10 AM Drag Story Time with Ophelia, co-presented by Print: A Bookstore and Portland Ovations at Print: A Bookstore in Portland. Drag Storytime is suggested for ages 3+. INFO
TUESDAY, MARCH 10 at 9 AM Ron Currie discusses The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne in conversation with Franco-American poet Jeri Theriault. Plus, join in the discussion as Anna Faherty, archivist with the University of Southern Maine Franco-American Collection, with Andrew Beaupre, curator of Archaeological Collections Maine State Museum, and Ron Currie address, “What does it mean to be Franco-American today?” Sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Tickets Required.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11TH at 4 PM Three contributors to Littoral Books' short story collection Positivity Bias -- Gillian Burnes, Madson Ellingsworth and Robert Diamante -- will discuss the book and their stories on WERU's Talk of the Town radio program. INFO
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 at 7 PM Growing Up on Munjoy Hill: A Discussion with Authors Michael C. Connolly and Ed Crockett at Print: A Bookstore, in Portland. INFO
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 at 7 PM Come to The Café Review open reading at Novel Cafe and Bookshop, 643 Congress St, Portland. All are welcome to come, and share your voice and your words.
THURSDAY, MARCH 12 at 6:30 PM Watch the premier of the documentary, My Climate Future, produced by Maine-based nonprofit, Seeing for Ourselves at Patagonia in Freeport (100 Main Street, Freeport, Maine 04032). Stick around after the film for an insightful discussion with the film-maker and audience Q&A. INFO
SUNDAY, MARCH 15 at 2 PM Two Local Authors launch new books: South Jersey Sand, a memoir in poetry, published by Kelsay Books, by Jean Anne Feldeisen and Journals From the Heart by Jean Slobodzian and Susan Marino, published by Nine Bells Press. At the Gibbs Library in Washington. INFO
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 at 7:30 AM NEA Big Read: Nature Walk & Book Talk along Back Cove Trail. Approx. 90 min / 3.6 miles. Registration required (space is limited). Lace up your comfortable shoes and join Maine author and mindfulness teacher Kara Douglas for a meditative morning walk around Back Cove Trail. This series is a partnership of Momentum Conservation and Mechanics' Hall, with this walk supported by Portland Trails. REGISTER
WEDNESDAY, MARCH18 at 7 PM Kat Rosenfield presents her new thriller How To Survive in The Woods with Travis Kennedy at Print: A Bookstore, Portland. INFO
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18th, 6 PM Maine Writers Studio is hosting its regular Literary Salon & Open Mic at Walter's Café in Brunswick. This month's special literary guest is Jennifer Dupree, a Casco, Maine writer and author of the hot-off-the-press memoir, Slow Motion. Bring a friend and something to share at open mic (5 min max). INFO
THURSDAY, MARCH 19 at 7 PM Bestselling novelist Ann Packer presents her new book Some Bright Nowhere with Maine novelist Caitlin Shetterly at Print: A Bookstore, Portland. INFO
THURSDAY, MARCH 19 at 6 PM Join us in celebrating the publication of Woody Hanstein's mystery, The Harbormaster's Wife, at Twice Sold Books, 155 Maine St, Farmington. Woody will read from his book and discuss its (fictional) characters and locale. INFO
FRIDAY, MARCH 20 at 12 PM Jennifer Dupree will be reading from her memoir Slow Motion at the Scarborough Public Library. INFO
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 4 to 7 PM The 4th Annual Safe Voices Grown-Up Book Fair takes place in Auburn. Come meet Maine authors, purchase from local libraries and booksellers, and see lots of work from local artisans. Tickets
SATURDAY, MARCH 21 at 3 PM Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization invites you to a lively literary afternoon with writers Ben Jacks and Kara Douglas, contributors to the award-winning essay collection Alive to This. 92 Congress St, Portland. INFO
WEDNESDAY, March 25 at 7 PM Erica Rand discusses Skating Away From the Binary with Evan Murray at Print: A Bookstore, Portland. INFO
In case you missed it, the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation now offers a residency program. The residencies are ten days long in the Brown Mansion, next to the historic King house in Bangor. Each resident receives a $2500 stipend as well. These residencies are open to writers in all genres, and the residency program has upcoming deadlines for recent MFA graduates (March 10!), K-12 teachers (April 10), and Maine writers (July 10). Good luck!
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