During the pandemic, two friends, one a pastor, the other a pastor and a scientist, began a correspondence about the ever-pressing realities of climate change. Each drew from their knowledge of ecology and Christian theology, and the resulting book, Letters from the Ecotone, charts their conversation in letters.

Andrew Nagy-Benson is the senior pastor of The Congregational Church of Middlebury (United Church of Christ) and an affiliate chaplain at Middlebury College. Andi Lloyd is the pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational Parish of Castine (United Church of Christ) and a former professor of biology at Middlebury College. She lives in Castine, Maine.

Following the reading, attendees are invited to join Andrew and Andi at The Pentagoet Inn for a shared meal and further discussion of these many topics and views on the existential threat that is climate change.

Two captains sit down at the Castine Yacht Club to talk about sailing, weather and adventures on the high seas.

Elliot Rappaport, author of Reading the Glass: A Captain’s View of Weather, Water and Life on Ships, has sailed as a captain in the US maritime industry since 1992,  involved primarily in the training of other mariners aboard a variety of traditional sailing  ships. Presently a faculty member at Maine Maritime Academy, preparing cadets  for professional careers at sea, he has also worked extensively at the SEA Education Association  in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Matt Murphy is co-owner of Wooden Boat and has been messing about in boats since the age of 10.

We’re very happy to have Emmy-award winning screenwriter, author, and Castine resident Jeff Lewis back for a reading of his newest book, Land of Cockaigne.

A novel written as a sharp parable of American society, addressing love, purpose, discrimination, and poverty, Land of Cockaigne is by turns furious, funny, subversive, tragic, and horrifying. The Land of Cockaigne, once an old medieval peasants’ vision of a sensual paradise on earth, is reimagined as a plot on the coast of Maine, where the novel’s protagonist, Walter Rath is faced with the question of what to do amid disastrous times.

Monica Wood is a Maine-based novelist, memoirist, playwright, and author of this summer’s fiction selection, The One-in-a-Million Boy.

Monica Wood is the 2019 recipient of the Maine Humanities Council Carlson Prize for contributions to the public humanities; and a recipient of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Distinguished Achievement Award for contributions to the literary arts.

Please stay tuned here for more details on her forthcoming visit to Castine.

Maine children’s book author and illustrator Chris van Dusen joins us once again to celebrate the release of his latest book, Big Truck, Little Island. Chris will be at the Castine Town Common to read from his new book, and to sign books and chat with young fans.

This events is co-sponsored with Witherle Memorial Library.

Big Truck, Little Island releases on May 3, 2022 and is now available for pre-order!

Dan Lutts  will host a two-session writing workshop for young writers, ages 14 and up in late June at Witherle Memorial Library in Castine. Dan’s workshop will be focused on building, describing and developing fantasy worlds, such as the mythical land of Caldon from his book, or Middle Earth from Tolkien’s work.  Dan writes, ‘In the workshop you will learn the basic components that make up fantasy worlds. Then, using pen and paper, you will create your own fantasy world, be it high fantasy, low fantasy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy—or any other kind of fantasy you enjoy. The emphasis is on imagination and creativity.’

Space is limited to 10 participants, and all materials will be provided. This two day workshop will be a workshop focused on how to generate world concepts, about  creating characters and landscapes, and developing them with depth and plausibility.  Students will write independently and share ideas and work, and will be encouraged to continue writing on their own time. The workshop will begin at 3:30 p.m. and run until 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29th and Thursday, June 30th. Please use this form to sign up for the workshop.

Dan is a lifelong reader of fantasy and historical fiction, an educator, and author of the recently published young adult fantasy fiction novel.  His novel, The Charm Wars, is  about a young commoners ambitions in the land of Caldon, a land of mages and magic, where the noblesse possess political and magical power and destroy anyone who threatens their  way of life—especially the commoners.  The work of creating richly detailed, nuanced and complex worlds such as Caldon, is the topic of his two day workshop for young writers.  

Copies of Dan’s book, The Charm Wars, are available at Compass Rose Books, and at Witherle Memorial Library. 

Author, screenwriter and Castine resident Jeff Lewis will read from his newest novel, Land of Cockaigne, on Novmber 11th at 7 p.m. at Emerson Hall in Castine. Books may be preordered at Compass Rose Books, and copies will be available at the event.

This is the story of a couple determined not to become a statistic (16% of all marriages don’t survive the death of a child) and a town that wants to support them at the same time it wants to protect itself from people from whom it doesn’t need protection, Jeffrey Lewis’s Land of Cockaigne is at once a mirror and a cautionary tale, a parable and a prayer—and a reminder that “Love is an action, not a feeling.”

JEFFREY LEWIS has won a string of awards for his novels including the Independent Publishers Gold Medal for Literary Fiction, the Independent Publishers Gold Medal for General Fiction, and the ForeWord Silver Medal for Fiction. His most recent book, Bealport: A Novel of a Town, was a 2019 Maine Literary Awards finalist. He has also received two Emmy Awards and the Writers Guild of America Award, as well as ten additional Emmy nominations and six additional Writers Guild nominations, for his work as a television writer—most notably for Hill Street Blues—and producer. A winner of the Humanitas Prize, the People’s Choice Award, a GLAAD Media Award, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Golden Globes nomination, he divides his time between Maine and Los Angeles.

Author Gigi Georges joins us at the store this Friday from 2 pm until 3 pm for a book signing. Her new book is Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen History of Rural America.

Gigi Georges lives part time with her family in Downeast, Maine, and has had an extensive career in politics, public service, and academia. A former White House Special Assistant to the President and Communications Director for the New York City Department of Education, she has also served as Program Director for the Harvard Kennedy School’s Innovation Strategies Initiative.

Her book thoughtfully pushes back against the long-held notion that the only way for young people in rural, economically challenged communities to succeed is to leave those communities. Through the lens of close friendships forged in the small Washington County town of Harrington, Georges explores the advantages, challenges and difficulties for young people in one of Maine's most beautiful, rugged and remote regions.