Attention bookworms of all stripes! This weekend features book fun for everyone. At the Derry Author Fest and Exeter LitFest, hear authors discuss their works and process — and maybe even get some tips on putting your own stories on paper. At the Old School Comic Show in Concord, enjoy the rows of comic books and meet some comics creators. And the Kids Con New England has chapter books, graphic novels and comic books — and artists and authors — to help younger readers grow their enthusiasm for books. Looking for some new reads? Check out this weekend’s many celebrations of stories, their creators and their loyal readers.
Derry Author Fest – Dive into the craft of books
By Zachary Lewis
Erin Robinson is a genealogy and reference librarian at Derry Public Library (64 East Broadway, Derry) and has been part of the Derry Author Fest since its inception almost 10 years ago. This year’s Fest, with the tagline “Community. Collaboration. Confidence,” is happening on Saturday, April 5.
“It’s a full-day lecture series,” Robinson said. “The idea is that people who are interested in writing or illustrating can come and they can learn about the craft and business of writing.”
Gibson’s Bookstore will be providing an all-day book sale, and a door prize is being offered by New Hampshire Writers Project.
“We have a variety of different levels of writers that come to the program. Some are authors who’ve been published, some are writers who maybe published once and they’re working on new projects, and some who’ve never been published. We try to get an array of different levels,” she said. Robinson is an author as well but publishes under the name Erin E. Moulton. She recently came out with a fun guide on exploring cemeteries called The Beginner’s Guide to Cemetery Sleuthing.
Laura Knoy is the keynote speaker of the day. Knoy is a journalist who founded and was the host of The Exchange on New Hampshire Public Radio before she “stepped down from the host’s chair to pursue other interests, including writing fiction,” according to her bio.
“Our whole theme is community, collaboration, and confidence,” Robinson said, “and of course, Laura’s got that in the bag. That’s a huge theme for her…. She’s always talking about local New Hampshire books. She’s going to bring some of her years of storytelling to the table for us.”
Knoy is excited for the day.
“I spent my whole career in journalism trying to create community around ideas and problems and solutions,” Knoy said, “and collaboration was definitely a part of that as you try to bring people together in a talk studio and hoping that people can not only discuss the issues and maybe their differences but collaborate on possible solutions for New Hampshire. But my speech is really about the third word in the conference title. I want to talk about confidence and how that’s played a role in my own career as a journalist and how it’s now playing a role in my efforts to become a published author.”
Her book, The Shopkeeper of Alsace, “is historical fiction that starts in World War I and ends in World War II. It’s heavily based on a true story that was shared with me by a French family who I met 30 years ago when I lived in France. The heroine of the story is the mother of the family,” Knoy said.
Knoy expands on the deep connection between the two globe-stretching events. “That’s the thing that I think makes this book so different. I mean, yes, there are tons of World War II stories, but Alsace’s experience during World War II was unlike any other region of France…. They were annexed. They became part of Germany again. They were part of Hitler’s Reich and their men had to fight for Hitler so their experience is completely different from any other region of France and nobody writes about that,” Knoy said.
Knoy will spend most of her time speaking on the conference’s themes.
“I won’t be speaking that much about my specific book. I’m definitely going to talk about the role of confidence in my earlier career and how I’m kind of working,” Knoy said. Among Knoy’s other pursuits, she hosts a couple of podcasts. One is called ReadLocalNH and can be found on Spotify and other places where podcasts live.
“Once a month I interview a local author, and I’ve met some great authors … and I just feel like there needs to be more platforms for New Hampshire authors to shine. I’ve been running ReadLocalNH for two and a half years and I’ve met some incredible people. I’ll probably see some of them down in Derry,” Knoy said.
Knoy believes many paths exist to the land of writing.
“There’s no one right or wrong way to do it. And I’m kind of suspicious of anybody who says this is the right way. That works for them, but maybe that doesn’t work for you. … There’s the people who say, ‘Sit down every morning and write for four hours’ and that’s great for some people but that’s not my lifestyle,” Knoy said.
Robinson discussed other presenters on the schedule.
“Then we’ve got, of course, Gina Perry. She is doing a picture book process and she has multiple picture books. She writes and illustrates. She does a wonderful job. Terry Farish and Sara Leslie Arnold, that’s like an author librarian team, and they’re going to talk about author visits, presenting your stories to diverse students,” Robinson said.
Robinson hopes writers from around the state are able to go to the event.
“I think we do find that writers are often quite introverted, so it can be a challenge to find those groups to talk to and mingle with and connect with, so they’re going to be discussing that, Susan Drew and Scott Gray. Then the one I’m also really looking forward to is Sarah Lamagna. She does these New England hiking books, which I just love,” Robinson said.
With the event being free it will be hard for writers to pass up.
“Registration is recommended. We wouldn’t bar anyone from going if they showed up but it’s recommended just so we make sure we put out enough tables and chairs and get ample room for everybody,” Robinson said.
“It’s really for every level and it’s wonderful too because it really is a wonderful writers community and people come from Massachusetts and New Hampshire so I think the second best part besides being, just being a really enriching experience is the community that comes together. All the writers come out of their quiet little houses and come and collaborate and communicate for a day and it’s really nice to see. Some people honestly just come because they want to hear interesting speakers. They might not even have a project in the works yet, and they’re welcome to come too. It’s not just about that, you know, really strict group who, you know, call themselves writers. It really is open to all, anyone who’s interested. Great for teachers too,” Robinson said.
Derry Author Fest
When: Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Derry Public Library, 64 East Broadway, Derry
Free (registration encouraged)
More: derryauthorfest.wordpress.com/schedule
Schedule
10–10:05 a.m. – Welcome
10:05–10:50 a.m. – Keynote with Laura Knoy
11:10–11:55 a.m. – Picture Book Process: From Your Light Bulb Moment to the Bookshelf with Gina Perry
12:15–12:55 p.m. – Lunch break
12:55–1:40 p.m. – Author Visits: Presenting Your Stories to Diverse Students with Terry Farish and Sara Lesley Arnold
2–2:45 p.m. – Get Out of Your Spare Bedroom and Find Your People with Susan Drew and Scott Gray
3:05–3:50 p.m. – Plot Twist: You Don’t Need an English Degree to be an Author with Sarah Lamagna
3:50 p.m. – door prize by New Hampshire Writers Project
Meet-and-greet and book signing will immediately follow each session.
All-day book sale provided by Gibson’s Bookstore.
Comic con fun — for kids – Telling stories, drawing pictures
By Zachary Lewis
This year is the 10th anniversary of the founding of Kids Con New England, said founder Emily Drouin.
“I’m a comic book artist and children’s book illustrator and founder of Kids Con New England. It’s a fun comic con for kids and children’s book event,” Drouin said.
The event is scheduled for Sunday, April 6, at the Sheraton in Nashua.
“We’re all about promoting art education and literacy through family-friendly comics, children’s books, art, and creative workshops, and lots of fun activities for the kids. They can meet over 130 comic and children’s book creators, exhibitors, middle grade authors, as well as lots of superheroes, princesses, pirates, Pokemon characters, characters such as Bluey, Mickey & Minnie, and Star Wars characters and more,” Drouin said.
“We do Jedi training, musical performances by the Clemenzi Crusaders and the Foo Family Band, magic shows with Sage’s Entertainment, and we have Gamers Sanctuary providing fun video games, and we also have indie game makers that do tabletop games, and we’re having Lego builds with the Lego Store, coding and robotic demos, and art contests, kids and family cosplay contests, scavenger hunt and more. So there’s a lot of things going on,” she said.
What drove Drouin to start this saga?
“I was self-publishing and started going to comic cons,” she said. “I noticed that … there weren’t a lot of family-friendly activities for the kids. I would often be next to a lot of adult-themed comics. And I wanted to create a fun event for the kids so that there’s lots of things for the kids to do, as well as to inspire them to create comics, so I started running kid zones at comic cons where I was teaching creative workshops. Then I decided to create a whole convention devoted to fellow family-friendly comic creators and children’s book illustrators to showcase their work.”
Families will feel at home at this event.
“This is a family-friendly space, all the materials are family-friendly appropriate, you know, no bloody gore and inappropriate books for the kids,” Drouin said. She hopes to “inspire them with the creative workshops and get kids excited about reading and creating art and comics.”
Drouin is creating as well as offering the space to other creators.
“I just had a new comic that came out. It’s superhero-themed about saving the environment, kind of like Captain Planet. It’s by a company that does textile recycling, Apparel Impact. I worked on their second book in this series. The first was done by another comic artist but this one is Apparel Impact Toxic Takedown and it’s about this textile production causing their waste to go into the waters and it’s creating this toxic environment for the animals and the people in the surrounding community. The superhero team, they go to put a stop to that and save the day.”
Toxic Takedown is the second story in Apparel Impact’s Team Impact! comic book series. Selections from this story as well as more of Drouin’s work can be found on her website emilyatplay.com
“I work mainly with authors. I illustrate,” Drouin said. “I also had a couple of children’s books that came out too last year, or [in the] past couple of years. I had one about adopting a puppy called Kona Finds a Family. And I did another one about the environment, Buddy the Bass and the Gooey Green Slime.” Selections from these titles and more can be found on her website as well.
Comic strips in the newspaper were a big inspiration for Drouin.
“I loved reading all those and that inspired me to start writing and creating my own comics and stories, and I also loved going to the library, all the books that I could get, and it inspired me to write and illustrate my own stories. When I was a kid I was inspired by Brothers Grimm fairy tales. I loved fairy tales, and so I would write my own fairy tales. I did co-write a comic book series called Eplis with my husband, Jeremy. I’m glad to still be doing this as an adult…,” she said.
Access to art as well is a big catalyzing factor for Drouin to put on Kids Con.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to do Kids Con New England was I wanted there to be a resource, a place for kids to learn and create comics. Through our workshops we’re hoping to inspire the next generation of creators. I wish there were more of these types of events when I was growing up … it’s a really awesome opportunity for kids to meet all these artists and authors and to get inspired … we have storytelling workshops [and] writing workshops to get kids better at how to write stories as well as creating comics.”
Many well-known and award-winning artists and illustrators will be in attendance, including Mark Parisi, Rick Stromoski, Chuck Dillon and Joe Wos.
Wos has won six Emmy awards as host and creator of PBS’ The Cartoon Academy. He is also an educator and has been the Charles M. Schulz Museum’s resident cartoonist for more than 20 years.
“He’s going to be doing a presentation at Kids Con…,” Drouin said, “teaching kids how to do cartooning, how to draw, and so it’s really a great place for kids to learn a lot. We also have several members of the National Cartoonist Society. So famous cartoonists are there.”
“I think the visual aspect of storytelling is really engaging to kids…. In the ’80s and early days, you know, there were mainly adult-themed comics, and now comics are very popular for kids. They have Dog Man and others out there. It’s just really a way for kids to get excited about reading, I think, through the visuals and the colors, and it brings the characters to life. … It’s a really fun and exciting way to create and tell stories.”
Drouin reflected on her journey running comic cons for kids.
“Since we’ve been running this for a decade [we’ve seen] all the kids that have been coming back each year to the shows … it’s really fun seeing the kids grow with us,” Drouin said.
Kids Con New England
When: Sunday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Sheraton, 11 Tara Blvd, Nashua
Tickets: Admission costs $16. Kids under 5 get in free. Discounts for family-of-four pack, military and seniors.
More: kidsconne.com, emilyatplay.com
Nothing but comics – Little Giant show brings big-name artists
By Zachary Lewis
Jason Brodnick and his wife are hosting their Old School Comic Show at the Everett Arena in Concord on Saturday, April 5. They started the event in 2018 and typically expect to see a couple thousand comic book fans.
“So the Old School Comic Show is a true ‘old-school,’ in my opinion, what an old-school comic show was. I grew up in the ’80s in Philadelphia and I went to some comic shows back then and I remember them to be nothing but comics, artists, and art,” Brodnick said.
He’s interested in the fundamentals.
“There weren’t cosplay parades, and there wasn’t the Geico truck trying to sell you car insurance. There wasn’t a vinyl siding guy, you know? I think comic cons have become something that I don’t like, which is like a pop culture con, you know? They’re fun, but I go to shows for comic books, and I think a lot of other people do as well.”
Brodnick and his wife run Little Giant Comics in Lawrence, Mass., and they originally had a storefront at the Rockingham Mall in Salem, New Hampshire.
Their main focus at the Old School Comic Show is the comic books.
“All the other stuff kind of gets in the way for me, so I created a show how I remember them to be with nothing but comics, artists and art, and it’s resonated within the community. It’s now arguably one of the best shows in the country. We have the best vendors in the hobby — Heritage Auction House, Metropolis Comics comes and sets up. Terry O’Neill comes from California, Harley Yee, Greg Reese, these guys are legendary vendors in the hobby, and they converge on the capital city of New Hampshire at this little arena and it’s an incredible event.”
Brodnick says attendants should expect to find countless comics when they walk in Saturday morning.
“It would be nothing but comic books as far as the eye can see and comic book art. So when you walk into the arena that’s what you’re going to get smacked in the face with is some of the best comic books and comic book art that’s out there.”
Comic book artists will be in attendance as well.
“We have some of the best artists that ever worked on a book, legends in the hobby. Jim Steranko; David Michelinie, who created Venom and Scott Lang. We have Jim Shooter, John Beatty, Donny Cates. C.G.C. Grading Company is going to be on site. It’s a pretty awesome event.”
These visual stories have shaped Brodnick since he was a kid.
“I had moved from Tennessee to Philadelphia and I was kind of like a little outcast, didn’t have a lot of friends, spoke in a Southern accent. One day I was walking home from school and I found a copy of ROM #18 and I read it and it was a story about the X-Men fighting this robot alien guy, Spaceknight they call him, and I got hooked…. I had my father bring me to Comic Universe to look for the first part of the story so I could find out what really happened, and it was fun. I enjoyed it, so I started collecting comics at that point.”
The Old School Comic Show grew out of a difficult period in Brodnick’s life.
“In 2013, I lost my job and I threw my back out,” he recalled. “It was six years before I could stand upright again. I was getting shots in my back. I had gotten severely overweight and depressed. Life was beating me up a little bit. My wife took me to a yard sale event at the Everett Arena in 2013. I remember walking in and it was like the horns of Valhalla started playing and it was the perfect venue for a show. I inquired about it and the guy said, ‘We only do dry floor events three months out of the year and vendors get right of first refusal,’ he said, ‘so for something to open up, it’s really hard. It takes a while for something to open up, but if anything happens, I’ll call you.’ So I left my number, I didn’t think anything about it. Five years later, in January of 2018, I get a phone call. ‘We got one day in April, it’s a Saturday.’ I said, ‘I’ll take it.’”
Little Giant Comics Old School Comic Show
When: Saturday, April 5, doors at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. for VIP)
Where: Everett Arena, 15 Loudon Road, Concord
Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at gate, $50 VIP (pre-purchase only, limited to 250 tickets)
More: oldschoolcomicshow.com
Exeter LitFest returns – Free panels, author chats
By Zachary Lewis
On Saturday, April 5, the Exeter Literary Festival happens at the town hall and the library. Katie Adams, the Chair of the Exeter LitFest board, spoke with the Hippo about the event.
“The group was founded by a group of people who wanted to highlight and celebrate and cultivate their long literary tradition in Exeter,” Adams said. “We’ve had so many writers here, from Dan Brown, people with a tremendous amount of success, and John Irving, to a whole slew of self-published authors who really add to that literary fabric that we all really appreciate.”
The LitFest has taken years to get to its current shape.
“When the festival began, it mainly focused on hyper-local authors, authors who were right in town or right nearby. In recent years we have expanded, and we’ve been able to balance out a lot of our homegrown authors with a little bit of a broader group from the New England area,” she said.
Two authors topping the bill this year are novelist Courtney Sullivan and historian Dr. Tiya Miles.
Sullivan “writes a lot about New England, a lot about big families, multigenerational, a lot of women’s stories,” Adams said. “She’s really wonderful, and her latest book, The Cliffs, is set right in Maine, so we think she’ll be a terrific fit for our audience.”
Miles’s All That She Carried won the 2021 National Book Award for nonfiction. “Her latest book, Night Flyer, is a kind of biography of Harriet Tubman [but] not just a straight cradle-to-grave account of her life. It is an account of her life through the lens of both her faith and her relationship to the natural world, so it’s really special,” Adams said. “We’re very lucky to be able to have these two authors who write such different books that are both so vibrant and relevant in our town.”
The fest is held on the first Saturday of April every year.
“This year we’re starting at 11 [a.m.] with our first event for adults and then our last event is at 4 [p.m.]. And we have events in the downstairs of the Town Hall as well as upstairs going on throughout that period of time,” Adams said.
“We also have a children’s event. This is our second year having a children’s event…. That is at the Exeter Public Library at 9:30 when children have been awake for many hours, as I well know.”
Aside from the featured authors, Lit Fest includes panel discussions. Four writers will join a panel about self-publishing. “We know we have a lot of writers and aspiring writers in this community, so that should be a really useful panel,” Adams said. “We have a panel on romantasy, the combination of romance and fantasy, which is one of the hottest and most rapidly growing genres for readers, so I think that will be a popular one,” Adams said.
Sports writing and baseball will be discussed too. “We have Keith O’Brien, who is a local author, who has written a great baseball book this year. He’s going to be coming back to Exeter Literary Festival this year with that book, and he’s being interviewed by Dan Provost, who both teaches English at the high school and is also a baseball coach. So I think that should be a really fun conversation,” she said.
“I like where we are right now. I like being able to be fundamentally a one-day event because the Exeter Town Hall is this really cool historic building and it’s also right in the middle of downtown where we have so many great shops, including our bookstore and restaurants. It’s great to be able to bring people here and collaborate with the local businesses and make it sort of a great community day,” Adams continued. “We have really worked on offering a variety of authors, perspectives, genres, so that we can both meet our readers where they are and also help introduce them to some new voices. That is definitely the balance I’d like to keep going forward,” she said.
Exeter Lit Fest
All events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, April 5
9:30 a.m. – Cynthia Copeland, author of middle-grade graphic novels Drive and Cub, at Exeter Public Library
Town Hall Main Events (Exeter Town Hall, 9 Front St.)
11 a.m. – J. Courtney Sullivan in conversation with Katie Adams
12:15 p.m. – Keith O’Brien in conversation with Dan Provost
12:15 p.m. – Independent Publishing in the Modern World featuring authors Renay Allen, Michael Cameron Ward, Justin Corriss and Sara North, moderated by Lara Bricker
1:30 p.m.– Damsels and Dragons: Romance, Fantasy, and Marrying the Two featuring authors Jacquelyn Benson, Laura Mayo, and Lyra Selene, moderated by Naomi Farr
1:30 p.m. – Echoes of Now: Poets of the Present Moment featuring poets K. Iver, Cate Marvin and Nathan McClain, curated by Diannely Antigua
2:45 p.m. – Family and Finding Home featuring authors Jane Brox and Alexandra Chan, moderated by Stef Kiper Schmidt
2:45 p.m. – Exeter High School Student Poetry
4 p.m. – Dr. Tiya Miles in conversation with Caleb Gale
More: exeterlitfest.com
Featured photo: Kids Con NE. Photo courtesy of Emily Drouin.
