Local Author Book Fair: Holiday Edition - Authors, Raffle, Teas & Crafts
Saturday, December 72:00—4:00 PMMaker SpaceIn Person at Woburn Public Library45 Pleasant St., Woburn, MA, 01801
Program RoomIn Person at Woburn Public Library45 Pleasant St., Woburn, MA, 01801
LOCAL AUTHOR BOOK FAIR
LOCATION: PROGRAM ROOM
Woburn Public Library is excited to bring you this special Holiday Edition of the Local Author Book Fair. Authors and illustrators from Woburn and nearby towns will talk about their books and have copies for sale. This season's authors include: Jeanne Freeman, Karin M. Gertsch, Carol Gordon Ekster, Laura Hatosy, Sheilagh Herrera, Nora and Emma Oliver, Ann Taylor, Maria Vetrano, and Holly Walters.
RAFFLE
LOCATION: PROGRAM ROOM
Visit the authors to collect raffle tickets for a tea-themed basket. Must be present to win.
TEA & HOT CHOCOLATE
LOCATION: PROGRAM ROOM
Join us for cozy tea with the authors — as you visit each author, check out a sample of a tea blend that matches their writing. Once you've met everyone, you can stop by our tea table to brew and enjoy a cup of your favorite. Cookies and hot chocolate will also be available.
CRAFTS
LOCATION: PROGRAM ROOM, MAKER SPACE
Alongside stories and sweet treats, kids have the opportunity to design their own mittens at our craft tables! Perfect to decorate your home for winter!
Visit the authors and pick up a wooden snowflake. Then head on up to the Maker Space to decorate your snowflakes. We'll have paint and glitter.
All crafts are while supplies last.
All ages are welcome to this free event. Registration is not required.
MEET THE AUTHORS
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Jeanne Freeman Katie's Pond is a children's book geared to the elementary level. It tells the story of Katie Stevens, a young student at the former Clapp Elementary School on Horn Pond. Katie's teacher brings the class on a walk around the pond where the children learn interesting facts about the flora and fauna found there. The book is beautifully illustrated by watercolorist Anne Recchia and written by former Clapp School teacher Jeanne Freeman.
Author accepts: cash, check
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Karin M. Gertsch
Karin is a retired educator, who lives with her husband Emil on a Christmas tree farm in Essex, Massachusetts. In 1997, her book, Cape Ann & Vicinity: A Guide for Residents and Visitors, was published by Acorn Press just in time for the City of Gloucester’s 375th anniversary. It was the first guidebook for this historic area. Fast forward to 2019, and Austin Macauley Publishers in New York produced her first children’s book, Flora Has an Adventure; it is the first book in a series. Also in 2019, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis published her short story, Dependence Day, in their 50th anniversary anthology honoring the anniversary of Slaughterhouse Five. Her short story, After World War II, was published by Hawai’i Pacific Review in 2020. The author’s first novel, Five Wishes, was released on June 13, 2023 by Atmosphere Press in Austin, Texas. Karin is working on several Flora children’s stories as well as an adult creative non-fiction book, Monika’s Journey. When not writing or reading, the author enjoys tending her garden and baking and cooking. Spending time outdoors with her rescue pup, Oliver, is a daily event!
Author accepts: cash |
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Carol Gordon Ekster Carol Gordon Ekster grew up in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Boston University and getting a Master’s degree in reading and language she was a passionate elementary school teacher for 35 years. At the end of her career she began writing unexpectedly. Her two most recent titles, published in 2022 and 2023 are Some Daddies and Trucker Kid. You can find out more about her books and writing life here: https://carolgordonekster.com.
Author accepts: cash, credit cards, Venmo @Carol-Ekster
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Laura Hatosy Laura was born in NJ, which means she has to fight her genetic predisposition for big hair and pork roll. After attending Rutgers University, she moved to Massachusetts with her high school sweetheart. They've been married since 1997. Awwww. Old people are so cute. She got her Masters degree at Harvard University and taught high school history for several years. It was while teaching the Holocaust curriculum, Facing History and Ourselves, that she learned about the story of Terezin, the camp on which Drawn from Memory is based. She left the workforce to care and advocate for her two children, Bella and Jake--no Twilight relation-- both of whom are on the autism spectrum. She lives in Massachusetts and is currently eating a pork roll sandwich.
Author accepts: cash, credit cards, Venmo @laurahatosy
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Sheilagh Herrera Sheilagh Herrera is the author of the historical novel No Other Place on Earth. She began secretly writing fiction in middle school and never really stopped. A Woburn native, she spent time living in Washington DC, Israel, and Colombia before landing back in New England. She currently lives in Rhode Island with her family and a very cool rescue dog.
Author accepts: cash, Venmo (@Sheilagh-Carey)
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Nora & Emma Oliver Nora and Emma Oliver (age 7) are a dynamic mother-daughter duo passionate about storytelling that inspires and uplifts readers of all ages. Together, they co-authored Emma and Mommy’s Magical Hearts, a heartwarming tale celebrating the unique bond between a mother and her children, and Luna’s Journey to Find Herself, a story about self-discovery and embracing one’s individuality. Nora, an accomplished life coach and author, brings her wisdom and life experiences to their books, while Emma, a creative young mind, adds her vibrant imagination and love for adventure. Through their work, they aim to spark meaningful conversations and leave a lasting impact on readers’ hearts.
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Ann Taylor A long-time Professor of English at Salem State University in Massachusetts, Ann Taylor has written two books on college composition, academic and free-lance essays, and a collection of personal essays, Watching Birds: Reflections on the Wing. Her first poetry book, The River Within, won first prize in the 2011 Cathlamet Poetry competition at Ravenna Press. A chapbook, Bound Each to Each, was published in 2013. Her collection, Héloïse and Abélard: the Exquisite Truth, published in 2018, is based on the twelfth-century story of their lives, and her collection, Sortings, was published by Dos Madres Press, in June of 2020. Her most recent collection, Looking After is now available also from Dos Madres Press. She has recently completed a collection of poems focusing on Horn Pond in Woburn, Massachusetts (Horn Pond: As I See It), near which she grew up and where she now lives again, and she is now working on poems focusing on her long experience as a college teacher.
Author accepts: cash, check, Venmo
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Maria Vetrano Maria Vetrano tried to save the whales when she was nine years old. It didn’t quite work. But that didn’t quell her desire to ease some of the world’s ills in some small way, even if only through fiction. She is the mother of one young adult daughter and currently lives with her wife and animal family in Massachusetts. When she’s not writing, Maria is the principal of Vetrano Communications, the PR and marketing firm she founded in 2004 that specializes in tech clientele. Maria is also a lounge singer who’s entertained audiences in Boston, Cambridge, and Provincetown. Along with her wife, she created Against the Tide, a fundraising event to fight breast cancer. She is a graduate of Colgate University with a BA in English literature.
Author accepts: credit cards (supported by Book Ends), Venmo |
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Holly Walters Holly Walters originally hails from a small, rural, town in Minnesota. A life-long storyteller, Holly is also a cultural anthropologist with a PhD from Brandeis University working in the high Himalayas of Nepal. While her ethnographic work focuses on fossil folklores and sacred ammonites in South Asia, her creative work pays homage to the dragons, unicorns, and fairy tales of her youth. When not writing, she can be found perfecting her Medieval archery skills, theorizing about movie plots, and forgetting where she left her tea cup. Today, she makes her home in Boston, Massachusetts, with a very unruly garden, a few equally cantankerous pets, a clever spouse, and a resident house ghost. And since her creepy sculpture hobby hasn’t panned out thus far, she is looking forward to the publication of her first novel and the writing of many more. Follow her on X/Twitter and BlueSky @Manigarm.
Author accepts: cash, PayPal, Venmo
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No Registration Required