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 mid-coast region of the state.