The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library present

CONCORD FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS 2025

Closing Speaker

Cass Sunstein

Saturday, November 1

7:00 PM

Concord Free Public Library Goodwin Forum
129 Main Street Concord

Join us as we close the 2025 Concord Festival of Authors with celebrated author Cass Sunstein!

The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library present

Karen Kirsten

Author of Irena’s Gift

In Conversation with Jennifer S. Brown

Wednesday, October 29, 6:00 PM

Concord Free Public Library, Goodwin Forum, 129 Main Street

The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library present

Marcella Pixley
author of
Neshama

Tuesday, October 28

6:00 PM

CFPL Goodwin Forum

Join National Book Award long-listed author Marcella Pixley to celebrate her newest middle-grade book, Neshama, with an author talk, reading, and book signing. 

The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library present

CFA Mystery Night 2025

with Nicole Asselin, Richard Cass & Kim Herdman Shapiro

moderated by

Kate Flora
Monday, October 27, 2025
6:00 PM

Concord Free Public Library, 129 Main Street

Transcendentalism Council of First Parish in Concord presents

A Flowering of New England Women:  Megan Marshall on Margaret Fuller: Collected Writings and The Peabody Sisters

Saturday, October 25, 2025

7:00 - 8:30 PM

Followed by a reception and book signing in the Parish Hall

First Parish
20 Lexington Road, Concord

Join Megan Marshall for a discussion of the first Library of America volume devoted to Margaret Fuller, which Marshall co-edited, and the much-beloved The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism, her first biography—a book that took twenty years to write and is still in print twenty years after its publication in 2005.

The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library present

The Debut Authors Panel 2025
featuring Nicky Gonzalez, Courtney Gustafson, Christine Murphy and Blue Nguyen

moderated by

Steve Edwards, Writer-In-Residence at CFPL

Saturday, October 25, 2025, 2:00 PM
Fowler Branch, 1322 Main Street

The Thoreau Society presents

Gossamer Days:
The Poetics of Thoreau's Last Seasons

with Author Kristen Case

Friday, October 24

7:00 PM

Concord Free Public Library
129 Main St., Concord

Join author Kristen Case for a reading and conversation drawn from her new book, Henry David Thoreau’s Kalendar (Milkweed Editions), an exploration of Thoreau's final work.

The Robbins House Presents

Tara Roberts

author of

Written in the Waters

A Memoir of History, Home and Belonging

Thursday, October 23

6:00 PM

Concord Free Public Library
129 Main Street, Concord

When Tara Roberts first caught sight of a photograph at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History depicting the scuba and underwater archaeology group Diving With a Purpose, it called out to her. Here were Black women and men strapping on masks, fins, and tanks to explore Atlantic Ocean waters along the coastlines of Africa, North America, and Central America, seeking the wrecks of slave ships long lost in time. Inspired, Roberts joined them—and started on a path of discovery more challenging and personal than she could ever have imagined.

The Walden Woods Project presents

Thoreau’s God

A Conversation with

Richard Higgins

Wednesday, October 22

7:00 p.m.

Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. for a wine and cheese reception.

The Walden Woods Project
44 Baker Farm Road, Lincoln, MA

Concord author Richard Higgins will discuss his new book Thoreau’s God, which explores the riddle of Thoreau’s spiritual life.

The Concord Free Public Library presents

Fowler Afoot Book Club

with Author Tom Wilson

Wednesday, October 22
10:00 - 11:00 am

Wright Tavern, 2 Lexington Rd. Concord, MA

Join the Fowler Afoot Book Club for a special author talk at the Wright Tavern in Concord Center at 10 am.

For October we are fortunate to have Tom Wilson join us to discuss his book Concord’s Wright Tavern: At the Crossroads of the American Revolution.

Concord Museum presents

Haunted Fables from the Gables

Tuesday, October 21

7:00 PM

Concord Museum
53 Cambridge Tpke

$15 Members | $20 Non-Members

Join Salem’s master storyteller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, for a frightful evening of thrills and chills in the gloomy shadow of his Concord haunts! The famous author performs his most frightening tales, as well as the terrifying works of fellow writer, Edgar Allan Poe. Stories include The House of the Seven Gables, The Cask of Amontillado, Annabel Lee, Young Goodman Brown, The Raven, and more. Experience the greatest Gothic horror stories ever written, brought to life by one of the authors himself! Appropriate for families with brave children 10 and up.

Co-sponsored by the Concord Museum, House of Seven Gables, and Old Manse. Hosted at the Concord Museum.

The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library present

Poetry At The Library

Jonathan Aaron & Linda Flaherty Haltmaier

Two outstanding poets at the height of their powers

Sunday, October 19

3:00 PM

Goodwin Forum
Concord Free Public Library, 129 Main St.

Join us for an in-person afternoon with award-winning poets Jonathan Aaron and Linda Flaherty Haltmaier who will read and engage in a Q & A about their inspirations and craft.

The Umbrella Center Presents

FROM PAGE TO STAGE: AUTHORING FOR THEATER

at The Umbrella Arts Center

40 Stow St., Concord

Saturday, October 18

8:00 pm

Join a special post-show conversation following Tick, Tick… Boom! with Scott Murphy, an award-winning Groton Hill music instructor, presented in celebration of the Concord Festival of Authors. The talkback will explore the unique challenges and rewards of writing for the theater—particularly musical theater—where words and music are crafted not as finished works on the page, but as blueprints for the stage.

The discussion is included with purchase of a ticket to Tick, Tick… Boom! The production runs approximately 90 minutes without an intermission.

The Barrow Bookstore Presents

The History Detective: There and Back Again to the Concord Free Public Library's Special Collections

In-Person and Online Event

Saturday, October 18

4:00 PM

Barrow Bookstore
79 Main St
Concord, MA 01742

Writing the research work: an adventure with Public historian Beth van Duzer and Concord Free Public Library William Munroe Special Collections Curator Anke Voss.

Thinking of writing a historical non-fiction or fiction work? This event is for you!

Barefoot Books presents

Storytime & Kids’ Crafts with Britt Crow-Miller,
Author of Thank You, Old Oak

Saturday, October 18
10:30 am - 3:00 pm

Barefoot Books
23 Bradford Street, Floor 2
West Concord, MA

Join Barefoot Books on the first day of the Concord Festival of Authors for a family-friendly celebration! Starting at 10:30 AM, author Britt Crow-Miller will read her new picture book Thank You, Old Oak. After the reading, kids can take part in fun crafts and activities inspired by the book. The event runs until 3 PM, and attendees can shop from our shelves at 20% off all day.

Bring the whole family for a day of stories, art, and book-filled fun! 

Saturday, October 18, 2025

8:30 - 10:00 AM

Concord’s Colonial Inn
48 Monument Square

featuring Dr. Pria Anand, Nicole Graev Lipson, and Megan Marshall

Moderated by Dr. Suzanne Koven

Full breakfast served while listening to presenters! Tickets are available online and at the Barrow Bookstore starting in late September.