Newburyport Literary Festival

A Celebration of Literature, Readers, and Writers
• In-Person & Virtual Events • April 26–28, 2024

Listed in alphabetical order

Jim BraudeJim Braude

No Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities are Passing on the Torch [br]— Saturday 9:00 AM Jim Braude is the host of Greater Boston, a news and analysis show, Monday-Thursday on WGBH Channel 2. Prior to that, he anchored Broadside: The News with Jim Braude, winning Emmy and Associated Press awards for his work. After 13 years at 96.9FM, Jim and Margery Eagan co-host Boston Public Radio at WGBH 89.7FM. Jim also writes occasionally for the Boston Globe Magazine. Jim was the founder and first president of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, a union representing staff in civil legal offices for the poor in 35 states. NOLSW helped lead the fight to preserve the national program when President Reagan proposed its abolition. He then served as the executive director of TEAM, the Tax Equity Alliance for Massachusetts, a tax reform coalition, during which time he led many ballot campaigns, including the defeat of what would have been the largest budget cut on the ballot in U.S. history. He published Otherwise, a magazine on American politics, and then served as a Cambridge City Councilor. Jim graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and New York University’s Law School.

Kelly GallucciKelly Gallucci

On My Own: Self-Reliance, Strength, and Secrets in Young Adult Literature [br] — Saturday 2:30 PM Kelly Gallucci is the Executive Editor of Bookish.com. She has an insatiable appetite for literature, especially young adult fantasy, and some days still can’t believe that she reads books and interviews authors for a living. When she’s not overseeing the editorial content for Bookish, Kelly can be found color coordinating her bookshelves, eating Chipotle, and binging Netflix with her pitbull. Kelly received her B.A. in English Writing from Marist College and her M.A. in Screenwriting from National University of Ireland, Galway. She currently resides in Jersey City, NJ. She is a Gryffindor.

Lucia GreeneLucia Greene

Opening Night Ceremony: Jeff Kinney — Friday 5:30 PM A Newburyport resident and former assistant editor of Children’s Books at E. P. Dutton, Lucia Greene is a lifelong lover of children’s books. A high point of her 30+ year career reporting, writing and editing for People Magazine was the opportunity to work alongside the creator of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, the late author/illustrator Bernie Waber. She totally gets Jeff Kinney’s phenomenal international success: Every book in the Wimpy Kid series makes her laugh out loud!

Leslie HendricksonLeslie Hendrickson

Writing “Up” With E.B. White — Saturday 7:00 PM Leslie Hendrickson is a writer and editor based in New York. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Family Circle, Jane, ARTnews, The New York Sun and amNewYork, among others. She is a graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M., and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She has also competed in more than 15 triathlons and visited all 50 states.

Chris KolianderChristina Koliander

Books For Living — Saturday 10:30 AM This year marks Christina Koliander’s third time moderating at the Festival. A journalist living in Vermont, Chris also is an avid reader who loves literary fiction and classics. In the spirit of Will Schwalbe, two books Chris recently read and recommends are Plainsong by Kent Haruf and the out-of-print novel, Victoria Four-Thirty by Cecil Roberts (you’ll be well rewarded if you find this book!).

Suzanne Strempek SheaSuzanne Strempek Shea

Inspired Journeys: Travel Writers in Search of the Muse — Saturday 10:30 AM Suzanne Strempek Shea is the author of six novels: Selling the Lite of Heaven, Hoopi Shoopi Donna, Lily of the Valley, Around Again, and Becoming Finola, all published by Washington Square Press, and Make a Wish But Not for Money, published by PFP. She has also written three memoirs, Songs From a Lead-lined Room: Notes – High and Low – From My Journey Through Breast Cancer and Radiation; Shelf Life: Romance, Mystery, Drama and Other Page-Turning Adventures From a Year in a Bookstore; and Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith, all published by Beacon Press. Soap Opera Confidential: Writers and Soap Insiders on Why We’ll Tune in Tomorrow As the World Turns Restlessly by the Guiding Light of Our Lives, co-edited with Elizabeth Searle, will be published this spring by McFarland. Winner of the 2000 New England Book Award, which recognizes a literary body of work’s contribution to the region, Suzanne began writing fiction in her spare time while working as reporter for the Springfield (Massachusetts) Newspapers and The Providence (Rhode Island) Journal. Suzanne is a member of the faculty at the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program in creative writing and is writer-in-residence and director of the creative writing program at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Mass. She has taught in the MFA program at Emerson College and in the creative writing program at the University of South Florida. She also has taught in Ireland, at the Curlew Writers Conferences in Howth and Dingle, and in Dingle via the Stonecoast Ireland residency. She leads the annual summer writing seminar in Dingle offered through Bay Path University’s MFA program in nonfiction. Suzanne lives in Bondsville, Mass., with Tommy Shea and dog Tiny.

Steve YarbroughSteve Yarbrough

Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life — Saturday 9:00 AM [br]The Best American Short Stories — Saturday 10:30 AM Steve Yarbrough is the author of ten books. His new novel The Unmade World will be published in January of 2018. His other novels are The Realm of Last Chances, Safe from the Neighbors, The End of California, Prisoners of War, Visible Spirits and The Oxygen Man. He has also published several story collections. The recipient of numerous awards, he teaches at Emerson College.