Join us for Bookends …
Bringing writers and readers together
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
As part of our partnership with the historic Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta, Fiction Bookshop has the great privilege of sponsoring this documentary about the life of beloved poet Mary Oliver.
Featuring archival footage, personal photos, notebook pages, and interviews, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World explores Oliver’s early days as a writer, the people and places that inspired her, and the award-winning works that launched her to broad acclaim. Hear from John Waters, former Poet Laureate Ada Limón, Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Colbert, Oprah and others who have been touched by Oliver’s wonderful work.
*Please ignore the times currently listed to the left (I am NOT a tech savvy creator)
Times TBD.
The Post-Literate Literature Society Book Club
On September 23, from 6-7pm, our good friend Brie Soares will be hosting the first meeting of the Post-Literate Literature Society Book Club (don’t you just love it?). In a world where literacy rates are falling and text shorthand is replacing full sentences, the PLLS Book Club is akin to an old-fashioned salon of sorts, a place to gather and appreciate great literature (we’re aiming to choose novels of 200 pages or less). First up will be Ursula Le Guin’s The Word for World is Forest. Copies available in the bookshop.
In Le Guin’s novel, Terrans (Earth humans) and Althsheans (indigenous inhabitants) clash in a story that explores colonialism, environmental degradation, pacifism, matrilineal societies, masculinity, and the author’s personal activism during the Vietnam War.
A new (old) frontier in publishing...AA Meisel launches his debut Sci-Fi novel.
AA Meisel has been a part or full-time resident of Wiscasset for 25 years (and was proud owner of The Riverdog Café on Water Street back in the day). In his own words, Meisel’s “checkered career has included linguistics, rocket science, and a long stint at the intersection of technology and investing.” Add author to that list! Meisel, who now writes full time, recently launched his debut Sci-Fi novel, City & Islands, on Substack, releasing one chapter a week for free (paid subscribers receive bonus content). Dickens would love this! Join us Thursday, October 8, for a an author chat as Meisel’s shares his thoughts behind this daring leap into the old (new) concept of serial novels.
Suspense on an island in Maine!
Join us for a chat with Maine author Lewis Robinson whose novel The Islanders is one of my recent favourites. Debuting in 2024, The Islanders is a Maine Public Radio All Books Considered selection for 2026 and a 2026 Maine Humanities Council ReadME pick. Robinson teaches at the University of Maine in Farmington.
Wealthy summer residents of Whaleback Island recruit a group of teens and proceed to test them both mentally and physically as part of an “exclusive leadership program.” But the island is full of secrets. A “reckoning of class conflict” and a classic tale of loyalty and friendship formed in the forge of necessity.
*photo by Molly Haley
A story for our time by a Maine author with the receipts to tell the tale.
Join us at Fiction Bookshop, Thursday, September 3, from 6-7pm as we host Maine author Eleanor Morse. Her new novel, This Foreign Land, is an “eloquent testament to fiction’s ability to speak honestly and powerfully to issues” permeating our current political climate.
Meet Vincent. Horrified by the news that the U.S. government will be separating children from their parents at the southern border, Vincent takes up his backpack and sets out from his small town in Maine on an extraordinary journey of love, courage, and endurance.
Books available in the bookshop and Eleanor will be happy to sign them!
Wiscasset Art Walk - August
Don’t miss the Wiscasset Art Walk in August! Shannon Parker of Love & Lobsters fame will be here to sign books! All the lovely shops and galleries in the village will be open and we’re looking forward to welcoming you for a little late summer fun.
Oyster Society: Adventures with the Shellfishly Motivated
Part culinary adventure, part personal awakening, Oyster Society is one woman’s story of how chasing oysters across North America led her to discover an entire hidden community and her own true path.
Virginia Shaffer is the founder of Lady Oyster, Maine’s first oyster culinary tour company. She is a food writer and Oyster Master Guild Certified Oyster Specialist who curates gastronomic seafood experiences in Maine. Virginia has written about shellfish for over nine years and holds a certificate in Gastronomic Tourism from Le Cordon Bleu Paris.
Sip & Shop
Fiction Bookshop, The Bird Gallery, Sylvan Gallery, and The Peaceful Pagan Vintage are hosting our second casual Sip & Shop event keeping our doors open for a lovely after-hours summer evening in Wiscasset. Enjoy a glass of wine while you peruse all these four wonderful women-owned businesses have to offer!
Cocked & Boozy!
Note the new date - Thursday, August 6 - Toni’s pick-of-the-month for July, Cocked and Boozy: An Intoxicating History of the American Revolutionary by historian Brooke Barbier, promises to be entertaining and enlightening. Come as you are, grab a pint, and let’s chat about this often overlooked aspect of American history. We’ll meet at Aekeir Tap Room, 111 Main Street in Wiscasset.
Wiscasset Art Walk
Join us for the second Wiscasset Art Walk of the season. The galleries are brimming with wonderful art and our unique, bespoke shops are open too! Four authors will be joining us at the bookshop, happy to chat with you about their books and sign copies as well (great gifts for a special reader in your life!) Irene Drago (Irish Timber, Lavinia Wren and the Sailmakers, The Maine Point, and Daughters of Long Reach) and Woody Hanstein (The Harbormaster’s Wife) will be here from 4:15-5:15 while Ellen Baker (Summerland Cove, The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson) and Emily Anderson (The Midnight Book Club, Booked at Midnight, and A New Chapter at Midnight) will join us from 5:30-6:30.
The LamboLaw Jazz Duet will be performing a free sidewalk concert from 4-7, too!
Communion by bell hooks
A casual get together and discussion around bell hooks’ pivotal interrogation into the female search for love. We’ll meet at 6pm at Aekeir Tap Room, 111 Main Street in Wiscasset. Join us for this informal get-together…no need to have read/finished the book.
Wiscasset Art Walk - June
Don’t miss the June Art Walk here in Wiscasset. Fiction Bookshop will have three local authors in-house signing books and available for questions. Marita Fairfield, author of The Merman’s Child and The Merman’s Hope, will be here from 4:15-5:15. From 5:30-6:30 say hello to Allison Keeton, author of Maine mysteries Blaze Orange and Arctic Green, along with photographer extraordinaire Buddy Doyle who will have his books Where Maine Reads and Maine’s Still Reading on hand. A portion of Buddy’s profits support the Maine Library Association. Come see art! Come talk books!
Author Chat with Rylan Hynes ~ Grafting
Rylan Hynes (they/them) is a trans author and artist. An alum of the Tin House Writers Workshop, their work has been supported by the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance and Monson Arts. Currently Hynes serves on the community advisory board for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance and is the Communications & Editorial Director at The Telling Room, a nationally recognized youth-serving creative writing nonprofit based in Portland, Maine. You can find their writing Rustica Journal, edible MAINE, The Masters Review, and elsewhere. They live with their husband in central Maine with far too many heritage apple trees.
Rylan will be in conversation with Maine author Shannon Bowring. Shannon’s award-winning work has appeared in numerous journals and has been nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Net prizes. Her Dalton Novels trilogy has been recognized by Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, Indie Next, NPR, and Oprah’s Best list. The first book in the series, The Road to Dalton, received a Kirkus Starred Review and won the Maine Literary Book Award for Fiction. Shannon was born and raised in Northern Maine and now resides in the midcoast region of the state.
Ellen Baker Book Launch in Wiscasset
The Wiscasset Yacht Club is hosting author Ellen Baker’s launch of her new novel, Summerland Cove on June 2, from 6-8pm. Come chat with Ellen about the book and enjoy refreshments that mirror those from the summer party in Maine that takes place in the novel. We, Fiction Bookshop, will be there to sell signed copies. If you liked Ellen’s The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson, you’re going to love spending time in Summerland Cove!
Author Chat with Woody Hanstein ~ The Harbormaster's Wife
Join us for what promises to be a great evening! Aekeir Brewing and Tap Room will be offering a special Harbourmaster brew on tap if you fancy a drink before or after the event. Woody Hanstein was a criminal trial attorney for over 40 years and has been the harbormaster in Georgetown for the past seven. He sails whenever he can, tends five recreational lobster traps, and helps coach the Bates College rugby team.
Independent Bookstore Day - Support your Indies!
Show your local bookstores some love! Whether you organize a bookstore crawl or head out on your own, join us to celebrate all that is wonderful about independent bookstores. Of course, we’ll have a raffle (we LOVE a raffle) and some special ARC’s (Advance Reader Copies) to give away!
Wiscasset Holiday Marketfest
Join us for Wiscasset’s Wonderful Holiday Marketfest! We’ll have specials and surprises throughout the village!
Small Business Saturday - Join us!
Come out and support small independent businesses in your community!
Bookends with Ron Currie
“Literary thrillers just don’t come any better than Ron Currie’s The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne. It’s profoundly serious and terrifying in equal measure.” - Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize winning author
Come meet Ron Currie, author of The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne. Set in Maine, this gripping crime novel is currently under development with Netflix. As the award-winning author of five books (notably Everything Matters!), Currie’s accolades include the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award, the Addison M. Metcalf Award, the Alex Award, and the Pushcart Prize. He has also received stellar critical attention from national media outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The WallStreet Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The Chicago Review of Books, as well as apt comparisons to historic writers like Kurt Vonnegut, George Saunders, and John Irving. Call or stop by Fiction to reserve your seat.
Meet Carrie Etter, American-born poet, critic, and academic, author of, among other work, Grief's Alphabet and The Weather in Normal.
Etter is perhaps best known for her fresh approach to poetry, prose poetry, and eco poetry. She is the editor of two anthologies, has been a visiting lecturer at several universities in the UK, and recently launched her own press, Fox and Star Books, with a focus on underrepresented poets. Etter’s work includes Imagined Sons, Scar, The Tethers, The Weather in Normal, and Grief’s Alphabet. Tickets for this special event are $10 and include light refreshments, readings of selected works, and a lively conversation with the author. Signed copies of Etter’s poetry collections will be available for purchase on the night. Stop by Fiction Bookshop to reserve your place.
Meet Shannon Parker, author of the heartwarming romance Love & Lobsters.
“A beautiful, big-hearted tribute to love in all its forms…. Wonderful, swoony, and sweet in all the right ways, you’ll be smitten with Christmas Cove.” Amber Smith, New York Times Bestselling Author
I zoomed through this novel and found myself laughing and crying in equal measure, and I learned A LOT about lobsters! Tickets are $10 and include light refreshments and lively conversation with the author. Signed copies of the novel will be available for purchase. Stop by Fiction Bookshop to reserve your place.
One Evening/Two Local Authors/Two Mysteries
Meet Geoffrey Bates, author of Bitter Passage, and Barbara Burt, author of Counterpoint, who will read from their work before discussing what it takes to bring a mystery from intriguing concept to thrilling end. Tickets are $10 for this private event and include light refreshments and lively conversation. Signed copies of each book will be available for purchase. Stop by Fiction Bookshop to reserve your place.
Meet Ellen Baker, author of The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson
“An engaging, multigenerational family saga…Baker deftly weaves the lives of three generations of Larson women into a moving tale of secrets, identity, and found family.” ~Booklist
Tickets are $25 and include a signed copy of the novel, lively conversation, circus-themed treats, and light refreshment. Stop by Fiction Bookshop to sign up and reserve your place for our first ever Bookends event!
Book Club: Wreckage
Join us at Panacea for a reading, Q&A, and book signing by Andrew Wolfendon, author of Wreckage.
*Space is limited, sign up in store at Fiction Bookshop.
