What a Girl Wants — 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.”
Erin Fitzgerald
Fifty Shades of Violence: Writing about Crime and Horror — Saturday 9:00 AM
Erin Fitzgerald is the author of VALLETTA78 (Outpost19) and “This Morning Will Be Different,” which appeared in Shut Up/Look Pretty (Tiny Hardcore Press, 2012). Her work has also been published in Hobart, The Rumpus, Salt Hill, PANK, and several anthologies. She lives in western Connecticut, and online at erinfitzgerald.net.
Sherri Frank
Best Small Fictions: The Art of Compression — Saturday 1:00 PM
Sherri Frank studied creative writing at Emerson College and joined the Festival Steering Committee in 2010. She’s worked in medical and health education publishing for most of her career. She’s been a medical journal publisher and an editorial director for CME programs. Currently, she’s a Senior Content Manager at Healthwise, overseeing the development of patient education material.
Dyke Hendrickson
Opening Night Overture — Friday 4:00 PM
Crimes of Passion — Saturday 2:30 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 Hendrickson
Why Fiction Matters — Saturday 2:30 PM
Leslie Hendrickson is an editor for The Wall Street Journal’s Greater New York section and a 2006 graduate of the Columbia Journalism School. Her work has appeared in Family Circle, Jane, ARTnews, The New York Sun, amNewYork, CityArts, Not for Tourists New York, and Columbia Magazine. She attended St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M., after serving as a U.S. Senate Page for then-Majority Leader George J. Mitchell. She has competed in more than a dozen triathlons and makes puppets for stage and Instagram.
Ellen Menesale
FAMILIES: The GOOD, The BAD, and The WACKY! — Saturday 1:00 PM
Ellen Menesale has been a resident of Newburyport for 25 years with her husband, Michael, and three daughters, Sarah, Ann Marie, and Megan. She’s had the good fortune of being the librarian at the Rupert A. Nock Middle School / Edward G. Molin Upper Elementary School for the past 18 years. She loves reading and is passionate about putting the right books in the hands of her students. When a story connects with a child, it’s a beautiful thing! Recently, the Nock/Molin library was renovated, and it’s now a dynamic learning space that connects students to stories and authors around the world.
Hilary B. Van Dusen
Exploring Gender Identity in LGBTQ Literature for Teens — Saturday 10:30 AM
Hilary B. Van Dusen, Executive Editor at Candlewick Press, concentrates on middle grade and young adult nonfiction as well as fiction for the same age groups. She works with award-winning authors including Avi, Tanya Lee Stone, Robie Harris, Susan Kuklin, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Paul Janeczko, Patricia MacLachlan, Pat Lowery Collins, Sally Walker, and Martin Sandler. She also heads up the paperback fiction publishing program and coordinates the Candlewick on Brilliance Audio imprint. She was previously an editor of children’s books at Little, Brown and of professional development books for teachers at Heinemann.