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Debut Writers on First Books

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A Panel Presentation

Do you have dreams of getting a book published? Join four debut fiction Maine authors on the experience of getting their books into the world. From writing a book, finding an agent, getting it published, marketing it and the roller coaster of the publishing biz, Greg Brown, Morgan Talty, Caitlin Wahrer, W. S. Winslow and Moderator, MWPA’s Taryn Bowe, talk the highs and lows of getting that book into the world. Learn what to do, what not to do, and what to expect for your first book!

In this panel, the four authors will discuss their experiences with getting their first book published, their successes and failures, and the practical details they wish they’d known throughout the process of publishing their books. The panel will conclude with a Q&A session.

+ PLEASE NOTE This talk will occur online via Zoom. Attendees do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before the presentation if they are first-time users. The presenter and MWPA staff will not have the capacity to help attendees with tech issues during the talk.

+ REQUIRED EQUIPMENT A reliable, fast internet connection (broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE), speakers & a microphone (built-in or USB plug-in), and a webcam (built-in or USB plug-in).

If you would like to quickly and easily test your internet connection and your computer’s compatibility with Zoom, click HERE. Full details on supported Operating Systems, internet browsers, and more can be found HERE. To download and familiarize yourself with Zoom, click HERE.


Gregory Brown is the author of the novel The Lowering Days. His stories have appeared in Tin House, The Alaska Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, Epoch, and Narrative Magazine. A graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he has received fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, the Napa Valley Writers Conference, the Sewanee Writers Conference, and MacDowell. He grew up along Penobscot Bay and still lives in Maine with his family.


Morgan Talty is a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation where he grew up. His story collection Night of the Living Rez (Tin House) was released July 2022, and his work has appeared in Granta, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, Narrative Magazine, LitHub, and elsewhere. A winner of the 2021 Narrative Prize, Talty’s work has been supported by the Elizabeth George Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts (2022). Talty teaches courses in both English and Native American Studies, and he is on the faculty at the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing as well as at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Talty is also a Prose Editor at The Massachusetts Review. He lives in Levant, Maine.


Born to two hippies in a small town in Maine, Caitlin Wahrer left the state for college but returned to attend law school and practice law, where she worked on cases involving some of the broad issues she writes about in her debut novel, The Damage (Pamela Dorman Books at Penguin Random House). The Damage was nominated for the 2022 Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author and the 2022 Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Caitlin lives in southern Maine with her husband and their daughter.

 


W. S. Winslow was born and raised in Maine but spent her working life in Boston, New York and San Francisco. A ninth-generation Mainer, she now lives in a small town Downeast most of the year. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French from the University of Maine and an MFA from NYU. Her work has appeared in Lit Hub, Electric LitYemassee Journal and Bird's Thumb. Her first novel, The Northern Reach, was published by Flatiron Books in 2021. She is currently working on a second novel and a short story collection. www.wswinslow.com 

 


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