Newburyport Literary Festival

A Celebration of Literature, Readers, and Writers
• 20th Anniversary •
• In-Person & Virtual Events • April 25–27, 2025

Listed in alphabetical order

AviAvi

Avi: Writing for the Reader — Saturday 1:00 PM [br]Alternate Realities: Bringing Fictional Worlds to Life — Saturday 2:30 PM Avi is part of a family of writers extending back into the 19th century. Born in 1937 and raised in New York City, Avi was educated in local schools before going to the Midwest and then back to NYC to complete his education. Starting out as a playwright—while working for many years as a librarian—he began writing books for young people when the first of his kids came along. His first book was Things That Sometimes Happen, published in 1970 and recently reissued. Since then, he has published 70 books. Winner of many awards, including the 2003 Newbery award for Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Hyperion), two Newbery Honors, two Horn Book awards, and an O’Dell award, as well as many children’s choice awards, Avi frequently travels to schools around the country to talk to his readers. Learn more at Avi-writer.com. Follow Avi on Facebook, where he shares an inside look at his writing process: facebook.com/avi.writer.

David Hyde CostelloDavid Hyde Costello

Animals, Animals Everywhere! — Saturday 9:00 AM David Hyde Costello is the author and illustrator of HERE THEY COME, I CAN HELP, and LITTLE PIG JOINS THE BAND. He created the cover illustration for SHELLY AND THE SECRET UNIVERSE, a book which exists only in the Wes Anderson film Moonrise Kingdom. With a background in theater as well as visual arts, David has painted scenery for plays and motion pictures including Amistad, Spider-man, and The Fighter. He is also a ukulele player, “self-taught through the productive use of procrastination.” David recently launched an online children’s video project in which the plot of a story is guided by viewer comments: http://davidsdrawingtable.blogspot.com/. He lives in Amherst, MA.

Myfanwy CollinsMyfanwy Collins

The Book of Laney by Myfanwy Collins — Saturday 9:00 AM [br]Alternate Realities: Bringing Fictional Worlds to Life — Saturday 2:30 PM Myfanwy Collins lives in Byfield, Massachusetts with her husband and son. She has published a novel, Echolocation (2012), and a collection of her short fiction, I Am Holding Your Hand (2013). Her YA novel, THE BOOK OF LANEY, is forthcoming in March 2015. She has also published fiction and essays in The Kenyon Review, The Potomac Review, The Cream City Review, AGNI, Quick Fiction, and other venues. For more information, please visit her web site: http://www.myfanwycollins.com

Heather DemetriosHeather Demetrios

Alternate Realities: Bringing Fictional Worlds to Life — Saturday 2:30 PM When she’s not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, Heather Demetrios lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home. Heather has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real. Her other novels include Exquisite Captive, the first in the Dark Caravan Cycle fantasy series, and I’ll Meet You There. She is the founder of Live Your What, an organization dedicated to fostering passion in people of all ages and creating writing opportunities for underserved youth. Find out more about Heather and her books at www.heatherdemetrios.com and www.darkcaravancycle.com, or come hang out with her on Twitter (@HDemetrios) and any number of social media sites.

Lori GoldsteinLori Goldstein

Alternate Realities: Bringing Fictional Worlds to Life — Saturday 2:30 PM Lori Goldstein was born into an Italian-Irish family and raised in a small town on the New Jersey shore. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Lehigh University and worked as a writer, editor, and graphic designer before becoming a full-time author. She currently lives with her husband in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a place close enough to the ocean that she can smell the sea from her back deck and yet it still takes an hour to get to the beach. She is the author of the young adult contemporary fantasy series Becoming Jinn (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, April 21, 2015; sequel, Spring 2016). You can visit her online at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com, chat with her on Twitter at @loriagoldstein, or Facebook at www.facebook.com/LoriGoldsteinAuthor.

Susan E. GoodmanSusan E. Goodman

Calling All Future Space Tourists (especially kids!) — Saturday 11:00 AM As research for her books, Susan E. Goodman has paddled down the Amazon and flown up to the Arctic with the Air Force, survived a monster truck rally without earplugs, and rode Space Camp’s Multi-Axis Trainer for what-seemed-like-forever without throwing up. She is the author of 30+ nonfiction picture books for kids, including All in Just One Cookie (an ALA Notable), On This Spot (a Washington Post Best Picture Book of the Year) and The Truth About Poop (Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best). How Do You Burp in Space? and It’s a Dog’s Life are Junior Library Guild Selections and have been nominated for a half dozen state reading awards. Learn more about Susan’s books and adventures at www.susangoodmanbooks.com. Photo credit: Michael J. Maloney

Jarrett J. KrosoczkaJarrett J. Krosoczka

Writing with Pictures: The Graphic Novel — Saturday 10:00 AM Jarrett J. Krosoczka has been passionate about storytelling through words and pictures since he was a kid. He began his professional career by illustrating educational readers for a national publisher while still an undergraduate at Rhode Island School of Design. Then, just six months after graduation, Jarrett received his first contract for a trade book that he authored. Knopf Books for Young Readers published Good Night, Monkey Boy on June 12, 2001, and Jarrett hasn’t stopped or slowed down since. Jarrett is a two-time winner of the Children’s Choice Book Award for the Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year and is the author and/or illustrator of more than twenty-five books for young readers. His work includes several picture books, the Lunch Lady graphic novels and Platypus Police Squad middle-grade novel series. Jarrett has given two TED Talks, both of which have been curated to the main page of TED.com and have collectively accrued more than a million views online. He is also the host of The Book Report with JJK on SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live, a weekly segment celebrating books, authors and reading. His Punk Farm picture book and Lunch Lady series are both currently in development as feature films. Jarrett lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife, two daughters and their pug—Ralph Macchio.

AnicaMroseRissi-SAnica Mrose Rissi

Anna, Banana, and the Friendship Split — Saturday 9:00 AM Anica Mrose Rissi grew up on an island off the coast of Maine, where she read a lot of books and loved a lot of pets. She now tells and collects stories, makes up songs on her violin, and eats lots of cheese with her friends in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives with her dog, Arugula. Anna, Banana, and the Friendship Split is her first novel. Find out more about Anica and the Anna, Banana series at anicarissi.com.

Ann StottAnn Stott

Always by Ann Stott — Saturday 10:30 AM Ann Stott is a book designer, art director and children’s book author. Two of her picture books, Always, and I’ll Be There, were illustrated by Matt Phelan. Her most recent picture book, What to Do When You’re Sent to Your Room, was illustrated by Stephen Gilpin. As an Art Director at Candlewick Press, Ann has designed many award-winning children’s books including the 2015 Caldecott Honor book, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, by Jon Klassen, the 2013 Caldecott Medal winner, This is Not My Hat, by Jon Klassen, the 2011 Caldecott Honor book, Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein, as well as the best-selling Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald. Prior to working in publishing, Ann was a designer and art director in the advertising and consumer product industry. She lives with her husband and two sons in Newburyport, Massachusetts.