Newburyport Literary Festival

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

Listed in alphabetical order

Robin BrennerRobin Brenner

Alternate Realities: Bringing Fictional Worlds to Life — Saturday 2:30 PM Robin Brenner is Teen Librarian at the Brookline Public Library in Massachusetts. When not presenting programs and reading guidance, she writes features for publications including VOYA, The Horn Book,Library Journal, and Knowledge Quest. She is an active member of YALSA and has served on awards committees including the Michael L. Printz Award Committee, the Boston Globe Horn Book Award and the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. She is the editor-in-chief of the graphic novel review website “No Flying No Tights.”

Dyke HendricksonDyke Hendrickson

Opening Night Ceremony — Friday 6:00 PM [br]From Brainstorm to Bookshelf — Saturday 1:00 PM Dyke Hendrickson writes for The Daily News in Newburyport. Previously, he was a staff writer for the Portland Press Herald, the New Orleans-Times Picayune, and the Boston Herald. He is the author of three books and a manuscript-in-waiting. Hendrickson currently writes “The Book Blog” for the online site of The Daily News.

Leslie HendricksonLeslie Hendrickson

Eat Drink and Remarry: Confessions of a Serial Wife — Saturday 4:00 PM Leslie Hendrickson is a writer, editor, puppet maker and triathlete based in New York. [space size=5]

Leigh PerryLeigh Perry / Toni L.P. Kelner

What’s so Cozy about Murder? — Saturday 10:30 AM Agatha award winner Leigh Perry / Toni L.P. Kelner is two authors in one. As Leigh, she writes the Family Skeleton mysteries about an adjunct English professor and her skeletal best friend, Sid. The most recent in the series is The Skeleton Takes a Bow. As Toni, she writes the Laura Fleming Southern mystery series and the “Where are they now?” series, and co-edits urban fantasy anthologies with Charlaine Harris. Their most recent anthology is Dead But Not Forgotten: Stories from the World of Sookie Stackhouse. Whatever name you use, she lives in Malden, MA, with her husband, fellow author Stephen P. Kelner, their two daughters, two guinea pigs, and a multitude of books.

Jana NavratilJana Navratil

Listening to Literature — Saturday 10:30 AM Jana Navratil has a life long love of reading and has spent countless hours listening to audio books. She is the co-founder of Northwest Pool Covers. Jana resides in Seattle with her husband, Jim, and her dog, Jazzie.

Jason PinterJason Pinter

Through a Glass Darkly: Creating Real Lives for Fictional Characters [br] — Saturday 9:00 AM Jason Pinter is the Founder and Publisher of Polis Books, an independent press launched in the fall of 2013, publishing acclaimed and award-winning fiction, including books by Jason Starr, Zachary Klein, Shani Petroff, Gary Phillips, Derek Nikitas, Jamie Stelter, Gregg Olsen and J.D. Rhoades. He was previously an editor at Warner Books, Crown Publishing and St. Martin’s Press, and the Senior Marketing Manager for Grove/Atlantic. He is also the author of six novels with nearly 1.5 million copies in print in over a dozen languages. Follow him at @jasonpinter.

Earle RayEarle Ray

The Invention of Fire: A Conversation with Bruce Holsinger — Saturday 10:00 AM Earle Ray has been an educator, law enforcement officer, and air traffic controller. He has facilitated and moderated numerous literary discussions and educational workshops and is an avid mountain climber, kayaker and photographer. He makes his home in Monkton, Vermont.