Responding to the moment - Maine Lit Fest fights tumultuous times with literature advocacy
Photo courtesy of Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance
Written by Larry Clow
Literary critic and poet Dorothy Parker is said to have dramatically exclaimed, “What fresh hell can this be?” when her doorbell rang unexpectedly. It’s a question that many of us ask ourselves on a daily — maybe even hourly — basis in 2026. Each breaking news alert and notification on our phones and on TV presents some unpredictable information with which to grapple.
The times are tempestuous, but literature and community can help anchor us so we can respond to the upheaval. That’s the theme of this year’s Maine Lit Fest, taking place in nine communities throughout the state from Sept. 30 through Oct. 9.
Maine Lit Fest takes place biennially, and this year’s event marks the festival’s third iteration. It’s a celebration of literature of every stripe, and readers and writers from all walks of life.
“We very much wanted this to be a festival that appeals to a wide variety of people — writers, readers, people who are interested in stories,” says Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, executive director of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, which organizes the festival. Events take place from Portland up to Presque Isle and are meant to spark conversations, build community and inspire creativity.
“From the start, we wanted its Maine-ness to be in part about geography,” he adds. “We certainly have a lot of events happening in the Portland area, but we also want to be sure we’re reaching different communities and bringing conversations there that people are going to be interested and engaging in.”
The festival begins Thursday, Sept. 30, with “Songs of No Provenance: An Evening of Literary Conversation and Live Music,” featuring writer Lydi Conklin, author of the novel “Songs of No Provenance,” and a variety of musicians at the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland.
Other events include a community dinner and poetry reading featuring Somali-American poets in Lewiston, a conversation on banning books, a collaborative literary and art project in Northwest Harbor, and a children’s book festival. Events are free, and Fay-LeBlanc hopes the variety of programming will resonate with a diverse audience.
“We wanted to attract people who never thought they’d go to a festival like this,” LeBlanc says.
The theme for this year’s festival is “Responding to the Moment.” In difficult times, literature and community can act like navigational aids, helping people find their way through challenges, connect with others and better understand the world around them.
“Humans are storytelling animals … here in Maine and beyond, we’re living through a wild and unpredictable and intense moment,” Fay-LeBlanc says.
“We have writers thinking about the environment and nature and climate, and the writers in Farmington thinking about food and land and what it means to live in a rural place,” he says. “We have writers who grew up in different Indigenous nations and who are thinking about what it means to come from those cultures.”
Maine Lit Fest takes place Sept. 30 through Oct. 9. Visit the Maine Lit Fest website for a full schedule of events.