Great crime fiction melds gripping plots and intriguing characters to some of the most enduring human concerns and conflicts. This year, Word has invited two masters to tell us how it’s done—especially in a setting as distinctive as the Pine Tree State. Maine favorite Paul Doiron is famed for his 15 acclaimed mystery novels featuring game warden Mike Bowditch, as well as a story collection, Skin and Bones, published earlier this year. He’ll be joining us to talk about the challenges and rewards of writing crime fiction with Lincolnville local, Elizabeth Hand, whose bestselling novels include the psychological thrillers about photographer and former punk rocker, Cass Neary, the first of which is set on an island off the Maine coast.

Kristen Lindquist

A native of Maine, bestselling author Paul Doiron attended Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in English. The Poacher’s Son, the first book in the Mike Bowditch series, won the Barry award, the Strand award for best first novel, and has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity awards in the same category. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of Down East magazine, and as an experienced outdoorsman and naturalist, he is skilled in fishing, hunting, canoeing, and wilderness survival, and knows the secrets of the Maine woods as well as his protagonist, Mike Bowditch. He lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine with his wife, poet Kristen Lindquist. Visit his website at http://www.pauldoiron.com/. 

Elizabeth Hand is the author of nineteen award-winning novels and five collections of short fiction and essays. Her work includes the series of psychological thrillers featuring Cass Neary, “one of noir's great anti-heroes” (Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love), historical crime novel Curious Toys, about visionary artist Henry Darger, Hokuloa Road, and most recently, A Haunting on the Hill.  Her novel Unspeakable Things will be published next year.  She divides her time between the Maine coast and North London.

Free event