All are welcome to join us at the library on Monday, August 14 at 6 PM for a special Slaven Lecture, an evening of readings and conversation with young authors from all across Maine. These young authors honed their craft and published their work with the insight and support of the nonprofit literary arts organization The Telling Room. Featured authors include award-winning short story author and poet Lexi Barstow of Rockland, novelist and award-winning writer Mo Drammeh of Bangor, and author Eric L. Nason of Belfast. They will read excerpts and pieces of their writing, followed by a discussion of their craft and experiences with the writing process, with time for Q&A.

Teens and members of S.N.A.C.K (BHPL's young writers group) are also invited to a meet and greet with these young authors from The Telling Room at 4:30 PM in the library's Howard Room. There will be snacks and beverages.

This program is free and sponsored by the library thanks to the generosity of the Anahata Foundation. Books from the Telling Room will be available to purchase. If you have questions please contact Teen Services Librarian Kendall at kendall.chapman@bhpl.net or 374-5515.

The Robert K. & Linda B. Slaven Lecture Series seeks to bring distinguished speakers with expertise in a wide array of subjects to Blue Hill, to share their knowledge on topics of importance to the community and the world. It is supported by a generous gift from the Anahata Foundation. The series theme for 2023 is Teens and the Arts.

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About the Authors

Lexi Barstow is a current sophomore at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where they are majoring in political science and queer studies. They have always loved writing and storytelling and have been a part of The Telling Room since their freshman year of high school. They are the recipient of the 2019 and 2021 Maine Literary Awards for Youth Fiction, as well as the recipient of a regional silver key, a regional gold key, a national gold key, and a national American Voices award in the 2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. They are the author of the 2020 short story collection, Truth Be Cold, which they wrote as a fellow in The Telling Room's Young Emerging Authors Program (2019-2020). After graduation, they hope to attend law school and go on to practice constitutional law.

Mo Drammeh, author of the novel Where the Cryptids Fled (forthcoming August 2023), grew up in Bangor, Maine, where he has lived all of his life, and is a senior at Bangor High School. In 2022, Mo won the 2022 Crime Flash Competition from the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and was named among Maine Magazine's Mainers of The Year for his writing. Mo is a 2023 Macklin Fellow, and plans to attend the University of Maine to pursue a science degree and was awarded with full tuition for his project at the Maine State Science Fair. He plans to continue writing into the foreseeable future and a bit past that, too. He is currently working on the first installment of a planned superhero fantasy & high fantasy trilogy.

Eric L. Nason, fifteen, is a high school freshman in Belfast, Maine. The short story that Eric published with The Telling Room in From the Edge of the World was influenced by an original character that he’s been developing for two or three years. He was influenced by his own presence in the LGBTQ+ community and some of the experiences that may come with it. Eric likes to spend time outdoors and often writes about the experiences he takes from real life like hunting, hiking, and camping.

Sophia Tyutyunnyk, of Orono, is fourteen years old and in the eighth grade at Orono Middle School. With “Birthday in Kyiv,” Sophia wanted to show that there are moments of light in times of darkness. She also felt that her family’s immigration story should have a light shine upon it, because living through the moments of her parents’ struggles changed her forever. “Birthday in Kyiv” is the 2023 Telling Room Statewide Writing Contest winner for Penobscot County.