Bookstock Presenters

Susan Bonthron offers studio classes at her Otter Pond Bindery in Guilford, VT. She provides residencies in schools, nature centers & libraries. Special commissions often focus on preserving family memories: from a 20-volume edition of a personal memoir to unique, hand-bound guest books & photo albums. Susan studied with many book-arts teachers & at the Center for Book Arts in New York City. Website: otterpondbindery.com

Center for Cartoon Studies offers a two-year course of study that centers on the creation & dissemination of comics, graphic novels & other manifestations of the visual narrative. Experienced & internationally recognized cartoonists, writers & designers teach the classes. The school is located in the historic downtown village of White River Junction, VT. Website: cartoonstudies.org

Bruce Coffin was born & raised in Woodstock. He has most recently written The Long Light of Those Days: Recollections of a Vermont Village at Mid-Century. This memoir is a reflection on time & memory, or what William Craig called "a geography of memory." Descriptions of ballgames, walks in the woods & townspeople illuminate how much has changed despite historic preservation efforts to retain Woodstock's architecture & character. Website: brucecoffin.com

Reeve Lindbergh is a prolific & well-praised author who has written many books: poems, memoirs & fictionalized accounts of her famous family. Reeve often writes of the Vermont countryside & agricultural seasons she knows so well. Some of her best-known titles are Under a Wing, Forward From Here: Leaving Middle Age and Other Unexpected Adventures, My Hippy Grandmother, & Johnny Appleseed. Reeve lives in St. Johnsbury, VT.

Jeannie Lindheim is one of the founders of the Hearts & Noses Hospital Clown Troupe. In the past 10 years, they have brought their unique style & methods of bedside clowning to thousands of children in Boston hospitals. Says one doctor, "Sometimes what it takes to heal a child doesn't come in a bottle...Sometimes healing comes straight from the soul..." Website: hospital-clowns.org

Joseph Olshan is the author of eight novels, including The Conversion, published last year & reissued in paperback this summer. Joe has won many national awards & has contributed book reviews to the Wall Street Journal. He has been a professor of creative writing at New York University & has written extensively for newspapers & magazines, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian (London) & Harper's Bazaar. He lives in Barnard, VT. Website: josepholshan.com

Peter Fox Smith is the well-known host of "Saturday Afternoon at the Opera" on Vermont Public Radio & has been heard every week since the station's premiere broadcast in August 1977. He is author of A Passion For Opera & two books of poetry, North Pomfret Poems & Voices of the Millennium. Peter has been published in The Ohio Historical Quarterly, The Harvard Theological Review, The Boston Globe, & Scribe Literary Quarterly. Peter lives in Pomfret, VT.

SpeakChorus, led by Harriet Worrell:, is a group of highly-trained voices--5 to 13 & sometimes more--performing short programs of literature, lyrics & philosophy woven into a single theme. Able to give onomatopoetic value to any words, the highly-disciplined SpeakChorus frolics with language, performing the spoken word with a collective spirit not often heard. The group is highly sought after for local & nationwide performances. Website: yohplayers.org

Ellen Bryant Voigt has been a finalist twice for the National Book Award for Shadow of Heaven & for Messenger. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Ellen has been awarded the O.B. Hardison, Jr. Prize for poetry & teaching from the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Merrill Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets--where she was subsequently elected a chancellor--& most recently the 2009 Poet's Prize. She lives in Cabot, VT.

Edie Crocker & Annie Lloyd: A graphic designer with 25 years of experience in the design & production of books, Edie lives in Barnard, VT. Annie lives in Cumberland, ME. She is an artist who has been making paper, hand-made books, & teaching art classes for more than 20 years.

Anna Dewdney is the author & illustrator of several picture books, including the very popular Llama, Llama trio. Anna has also illustrated many books by other authors. She lives in Putney, VT, where she teaches at the Greenwood School, a junior boarding school for boys with learning disabilities. Website: annadewdney.com

Castle Freeman has been an essayist for The Old Farmer's Almanac since 1982 & is now a contributing writer to Vermont Life Magazine's "Vermont Observed." Castle writes novels, short stories & essays from his home in Newfane, VT. In his recent novels, All That I Have & Go With Me, he writes with his usual offbeat, wry humor.

Deirdre Heekin & Caleb Barber are the proprietors of Osteria Pane e Salute in Woodstock. Their restaurant has received acclaim from Bon Appetit, The Boston Globe, & Travel & Leisure. Members of SlowFood & the Vermont Fresh Network, they purchase from local farmers & grow their own ingredients. Caleb & Deirdre have studied cooking, wine, & wine production throughout Italy & make their own micro-vintage wine. Deirdre's latest books are Libation: A Bitter Alchemy & In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love. Website: osteriapaneesalute.com

Geof Hewitt has written three books of poetry & three books for teachers. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at UVM & Vermont College. Geof's poetry has been published in Harpers & The Paris Review & his most recent book is Hewett's Guide to Slam Poetry and Poetry Slam. As co-director of the Vermont Adolescent Literacy & Learning Initiative, he has led reading workshops in Vermont's K-12 classrooms, correctional facilities & with teen parents.

Beth Kanell is a poet & author of adventure, travel & local history books. The Darkness Under the Water is her first novel. She drew on her family background of New England farm & forest, a neighbor's tales of Abenaki heritage, & the historical fact that part of Waterford vanished underwater to create a story of discrimination, loss & self-discovery. Beth lives in Waterford, VT. Website: bethkanell.com

Madeleine Kunin is the first woman governor of VT (1985-91). Throughout her life she has combined her deepest interests in education, the environment & politics. She holds numerous degrees & is the author of Pearls, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead. Madeleine believes that women tend to be more collaborative & inclusive than men & that increasing the numbers of women in political office is vital. Website: madeleinekunin.org