Norwich Public Library is sponsoring an online community reading of “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” In 1852, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass asked this question in a speech condemning a nation that would celebrate freedom and democracy while so many of its inhabitants lived their lives in state-sanctioned bondage.

We will read an abridged version of the speech out loud together with an opportunity for facilitated breakout discussion following the reading. Facilitators will ask questions that make contemporary connections between Douglass’s speech and current affairs in the United States.

Registration: If you are interested in reading a passage, please consider “claiming” your selections in advance. To attend the event, use this Zoom link.

Contact: Norwich Public Library

Barbara Morrow, co-founder of the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vermont will sit down with author Julia Alvarez to discuss her new book, Afterlife, how women can triumph through the struggles of life in transition. This novel is also relevant to these times when immigration is an important issue and human empathy is more crucial than ever.

Cost: $10. Afterlife is available for purchase at the Northshire Bookstore.

Registration: Register online to receive the Zoom link.

Contact: Green Mountain Academy

Mona Awad: Bunny

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Visual art meets the written word as poets share original pieces penned in response to works by 1918 flu pandemic-era artists Edvard Munch, Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt.

Registration: Register online to receive the Zoom link.

Contact: The Poartry Project

This year’s conference (June 27 to July 1, Writing Intensive July 1 to 2), will be held entirely online. The Conference on Poetry and Teaching is a unique opportunity for teachers to work closely with both their peers and a team of illustrious poets who have particular expertise in working with teachers at all levels. Over the course of 4½ days, faculty poets will share specific, hands-on techniques for teaching poetry. This year’s faculty includes Dawn Potter, Kerrin McCadden, Cleopatra Mathis, Jaime Allesandrine, Angela Narciso Torres, and Didi Jackson.

Cost: $725 for the Conference only; $925 for the Conference and Writing Intensive.

Registration: Apply online by June 25.

Contact: The Frost Place

Stephanie Storey: Raphael

Please Note: To support Northshire's event program, Northshire Live events are now ticketed on a pay-what-you-can basis. Tickets are non-refundable. Tickets are free for those who purchase event books from Northshire Bookstore, and for those who cannot pay at this time. Both free and paid tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite.

Contact: Northshire Bookstore

Sarah Stewart Taylor: The Mountains Wild

Sarah will be interviewed by Maine writer, Julia Spencer Fleming, and will read a passage from the book. We plan to have time for Q&A at the end.

To join the event, please email and you will be sent a link when it is available.

Contact: The Norwich Bookstore

Colin Woodard: Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Kristin Kimball: Good Husbandry

Please Note: To support Northshire's event program, Northshire Live events are now ticketed on a pay-what-you-can basis. Tickets are non-refundable. Tickets are free for those who purchase either event book from Northshire Bookstore, and for those who cannot pay at this time. Both free and paid tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite.

Contact: Northshire Bookstore

Rosalie Knecht: Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery

Tracy O’Neill: Quotients

Cost: $0-20

Please Note: To support Northshire's event program, Northshire Live events are now ticketed on a pay-what-you-can basis. Tickets are non-refundable. Tickets are free for those who purchase either event book from Northshire Bookstore, and for those who cannot pay at this time. Both free and paid tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite.

Contact: Northshire Bookstore

Join Still North Books & Bar and Dartmouth for Life in welcoming bestselling author Peter Heller for a discussion of his latest novel, The River.

This event is the first in the new reading-and-discussion series which is aimed at bringing together readers from across the country over powerful stories by Dartmouth-affiliated authors. Hosted over Zoom, the evening will feature a brief reading and talk, followed by alumni-hosted breakout discussions, and finally a Q&A with the author. The event is part of Dartmouth's virtual reunion programming, but open to all.

Registration: Register online.

Contact: Still North Books & Bar

Emily Raboteau: Searching for Zion

Megan Mayhew Bergman: Almost Famous Women

“Placing the Environmental Perspective in the Current Moment”

Registration is not required. Simply click on the program title on the website on the day of the event.

Contact: Bread Loaf at Middlebury

Eloisa Amezcua: From the Inside Quietly

Christian Gullette

Allison Grimaldi Donahue: On Endings

Laura Marris

Registration is not required. Simply click on the program title on the website on the day of the event.

Contact: Bread Loaf at Middlebury

Juliet Grames: The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna

Juliet will be in conversation with her friend and fellow author Erika Swyler (Light from Other Stars).

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Rebecca Dinerstein Knight: Hex

Marie-Helene Bertino: Parakeet

Cost: $0-20

In order to support Northshire Bookstore's event program, this event is ticketed on a pay-what-you-can basis. Ticket purchases are non-refundable.

Ticket purchase is free if you buy the event book from Northshire Bookstore.

Contact: Northshire Bookstore

Meg Heckman: Political Godmother: Nackey Scripps Loeb and the Newspaper that Shook the Republican Party

Concord Monitor alum Meg Heckman will be in conversation with fellow Concord Monitor alum Pamela Walsh.

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Bertha Rogers: Wild, Again

Kate Hanson Foster: Mid Drift

The Hoot features two readers and an open mic immediately following. Bring a poem and be ready to read. Open mic participants may read one poem and be no longer than three minutes.

Registration: The Hoot is moving to Zoom. To sign up to attend, send an email to and include “Zoom Hoot” in the subject line.

Contact: Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program

Chris Bohjalian: The Red Lotus

Chris will be in conversation with Rebecca Makkai.

Cost: $32-50

Your event ticket includes a new hardcover copy of The Red Lotus and a bookplate signed by the author, as well as online access to the event for your household. Northshire Bookstore will mail your book and bookplate to you after the event. Upon ticket purchase you will receive a link and password to attend the zoom event. Please note that your ticket purchase is not refundable.

Contact: Northshire Bookstore

Dan Szczesny: You & Me: Reflections on Becoming Your Dad

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas: Growing Old: Notes on Aging with Something Like Grace

Isa Leshko: Allowed to Grow Old: Portraits of Elderly Animals from Farm Sanctuaries

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas will be joined in conversation by photographer Isa Leshko, whose stunning photographs of elderly farm animals, which are rarely allowed to reach such an age, are showcased in her new coffeetable book. Liz and Isa are being joined in conversation by their friend, author and noted naturalist Sy Montgomery.

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Pop some popcorn and put your feet up, John Grisham is coming to Gibson's Bookstore via Facebook Live! A true friend to bookstores, Grisham is touring indie bookstores around the country, one Facebook Live at a time. He'll be interviewed by Gibson's Bookstore's owner, Michael Herrmann, as they discuss Grisham's new thriller, Camino Winds.

Want to submit a question for consideration? You can submit them ahead of the event via our Google form.

Limited signed copies (sorry, no personalizations) of Camino Winds will be arriving at Gibson's Bookstore for this virtual event, claim yours before they run out! (Father's Day is coming!)

There is no sign-up or registration needed for this event.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Elizabeth Shackelford: The Dissent Channel

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Join Still North Books & Bar and Literary North as we welcome three Upper Valley authors whose books are among our most anticipated reads of the summer!

Makenna Goodman (The Shame, on sale 8/11), KJ Dell'Antonia (The Chicken Sisters, on sale 6/30), and Michele Campbell (The Wife Who Knew Too Much, on sale 7/28) will read from their upcoming releases, give us a peek into their writing processes, field our questions about what to read this summer, how to stay inspired in the time of COVID-19, and more.

This event will also serve as the official start of our 2020 Summer Reading & Writing Bingo challenge.

Cost: Tickets are available free of charge. Donations of up to $10 will be accepted to help us cover event-related costs.

Contact: Still North Books & Bar

Just-for-fun short story readings from a variety of authors and readers. Two or three selections per session. Participants will be muted throughout the session. Make yourself a snack, pour yourself a drink, sit back, and be entertained by our amazing readers. It's an excellent excuse for you to make time for you, take a break from your day-to-day, and to feel a little less lonely while inside the comfort of your own home.

Cost: This event is by donation. Proceeds will be split between The Space On Main and our guest musicians. Tips to the musicians are encouraged.

Registration: Register online. Connection information and tip/donation links will be available upon registration.

Contact: The Space on Main

Join the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing & Publishing Students for an online reading.

To attend the event, go to the VCFA Zoom room. To join by phone, call +1 (646) 876-9923. Meeting ID# 221 570 285

Contact: VCFA

Jessica Anthony: Enter the Aardvark

Registration: To attend this Zoom event, please register online. Please note that registration serves only to deter casual zoom-bombers, and does not guarantee a spot if the meeting reaches capacity (100). The software fills the meeting room based on time of arrival, not registration date.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Wyn Cooper: Mars Poetica

Robert Cording: Without My Asking

The Hoot features two readers and an open mic immediately following. Bring a poem and be ready to read. Open mic participants may read one poem and be no longer than three minutes.

Registration: The Hoot is moving to Zoom. To sign up to attend, send an email to and include “Zoom Hoot” in the subject line. Register to attend by May 5. Register to be an open mic reader by May 3.

Contact: Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program

Lucy Terry Prince was born in Africa, where she was kidnapped by slave traders and transported to Rhode Island. While still enslaved in 1746, she wrote “Bars Fight,” the oldest known poem in the United States written by an African American. Prince later regained her freedom and moved to Vermont with her husband, Abijah Prince, and fought for her family’s land rights all the way to the highest court in Vermont.

In this presentation, Shanta Lee Gander illustrates Prince’s importance as a poet and orator, and as one unafraid to fight for her rights within the landscape of early Vermont, New England, and America. Gander will also perform Lucy’s only surviving poem, “Bars Fight.”

Shanta Lee Gander is one of the managing editors of Mount Island, a small press dedicated to rural LGBTQ+ and POC voices/artists.

Registration: This presentation will be held in Zoom meeting format. To attend, please register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Contact: Vermont Humanities Council

Katherine Alford and Kathy Gunst: Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Fury, and Women’s Voices

Registration: This event will be held via Zoom. Register for the event in advance.

Contact: Gibson’s Bookstore

Trinie Dalton: Destroy Bad Thoughts Not Your Own

Yi Shun Lai: Not a Self-Help Book

Carvell Wallace: The Sixth Man

The MFA in Writing & Publishing program is hosting their Friday Night Readings series online this semester. To attend the event, go to the VCFA Zoom room. To join by phone, call +1 (646) 876-9923. The meeting ID is 687-912-190.

Contact: Vermont College of Fine Arts