Newburyport Literary Festival, April 24-25

A couple of years ago when my friend Myf told me she went to the literary festival in Newburyport, Massachusetts, I was wracked with envy because Richard Russo was there. Most writers look to other authors as their rock stars, but to me Richard Russo is The Beatles, Mick Jagger and Harry Nilsson all rolled into one. (Yes, I was a huge Harry Nilsson fan.)

So imagine how thrilled I am that this year I'm appearing at the festival. Richard Russo won't be there, but other idols will. I'm not going to tell you who I'm all starry-eyed over as I plan to play it very cool when I meet and greet, but check out the list of novelists and draw your own conclusions:
Julia Alvarez
Elizabeth Barrett
Brunonia Barry
Richard Bausch
Louis Bayard
Elisabeth Brink
David Crouse
Andre Dubus III
Anne Easter Smith
David Ebershoff
Julia Glass
Áine Greaney
Dyke Hendrickson
Eric Kraft
Elinor Lipman
Margot Livesey
Andrew McNabb
Ellen Meister
DeLauné Michel
Heidi Pitlor
Anita Shreve
Lewis Turco

And those are just the fiction authors. To see who else is presenting, go to Newburyportliteraryfestival.org and click authors et al.

On Friday night, April 24, there's a Dinner with the Authors event, and I think almost all these folks will be there. Click here to make your reservation.

My discussion will be on Saturday morning, April 25, at 9 am. I'll be doing a panel with Delaune Michel, a wonderful author whose most recent book, THE SAFETY OF SECRETS, I'm currently reading ... and loving. For more info on the schedule of events, click here.

I think this is going to be a pretty spectacular festival. Hope you can make it.