Stephen King and E.B. White might be Maine’s most famous authors, but there’s a rich literary culture in the Blue Hill Peninsula.
That’s why Word, a literary arts festival, was born in 2017. Starting Thursday, the four-day event will celebrate the writers, poets and readers of Blue Hill, said Ellen Booraem, a published author of children’s fantasy books who lives in Brooklin and is helping organize the festival.
“The original impetus of this event would be that it would be a crime not to take advantage of the talent in this area. The place is bursting with writers of varying descriptions,” Booream said Monday. “Quite a few are summer residents but many live here year-round. Also, the population here tends to be readers and writers.”
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The writers, past and present, with Hancock County roots include E.B. White, writer and the author of several children’s’ books including “Charlotte’s Web.” Jonathan Lethem, who wrote the novel “Motherless Brooklyn” and interviewed Bob Dylan for Rolling Stone magazine, is another, along with Michael Chabon, John Hodgman, Heidi Julavits, Ben Marcus, Ayelet Waldman and Edmund White, to name a few.
Authors who will be at this years’ festival include Hans M. Carlson, Susan Hand Shetterly, Rob McCall, Oisin Curran and his wife, Sarah Faber, Abdi Nor Iftin and children’s author and illustrator Hazel Mitchell.
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The festival includes a poetry crawl, workshops, keynote speeches, a literary brunch, open mic events and a festival supper, according to the schedule of events at wordfestival.org.
Sarah Pebworth, who conceived of the festival and launched it last year, said that anyone who wants to rub shoulders with working writers or learn more about the craft of writing will enjoy the festival immensely.
“One feedback I got was to make sure that there’s time for conversations,” Pebworth said.
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“We have these conversation times built in over food. There is something to listening to poetry in an unusual experience and then walking somewhere else to hear more,” she added. “It gives people a way to talk about what they just experienced that’s fresh and inspiring.”
Event venues for Word. include the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Books on Pleasant Street, plus several downtown businesses the poetry crawl will visit. The festival is a mix of free- and admission-charging events. Check the event schedule at wordfestival.org for details.
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