Five weeks, five authors at Stowe Free Library in October
September 28, 2026 | By Waterbury Roundabout
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The Friends of the Stowe Free Library invite the community to their October speaker series featuring five Vermont authors representing a range of storytelling, many with new books to share.
The weekly series begins this Thursday, Oct. 1, with a different author scheduled each week. Each presentation will give attendees a chance to meet an author, hear about their stories, their experiences, and ideas that inspire their writing.
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The five authors in the series represent a range of Vermont's literary community, with works from memoir and local history to true crime, fantasy, science fiction, and horror. The series highlights authors who live and work in the state as well as those who have studied or taught here.
Each presentation will be held at the Stowe Free Library, starting at 7 p.m. Bear Pond Books will have books by the featured authors available for purchase following the presentations, including current and selected previous works. Admission is free.
Oct. 1: George Woodard
Waterbury author, filmmaker, actor and farmer George Woodard is first on the schedule, introducing his new children’s book, “The Boy Who Raked Hay,” whose publication is imminent. A Bear Pond Books staffer will be on hand either with copies available for purchase or to take pre-orders, depending on the publication schedule.
Oct. 8: Thea Lewis
Best-selling Vermont author of Burlington’s Queen City Ghost Walk fame Thea Lewis has a new book, “True Crime Stories of Vermont,” that she will be talking about. Lewis is the owner of Queen City Entertainment and the Ghost Walk tours. Over the years, her has been featured in numerous magazines, on television and podcasts throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Oct. 15: Katherine Arden
New York Times bestselling author Katherine Arden will visit with her newly released novel, “The Unicorn Hunters.” The story follows an orphaned duchess who must journey into a world of myth and discover a power that could be her salvation or her demise.
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A Texas native, Arden studied French and Russian at Middlebury College and has lived in France, Moscow, and Hawaii. The author of the “Winternight Trilogy,” she now makes her home in Vermont.
Oct. 22: William Alexander
National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author William Alexander is known for his middle-grade fantasy and science fiction.
His work includes the novels “Goblin Secrets,” “Ghoulish Song,” “Ambassador,” “Nomad,” “A Properly Unhaunted Place” and “A Festival of Ghosts.” He studied theater and folklore at Oberlin College, English at the University of Vermont, and creative writing at Clarion. He currently teaches in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Catch local author and education Ann Dávila Cardinal at Stowe Free Library on October 6. Courtesy photo
Oct. 29: Ann Dávila Cardinal
Local author and educator Ann Dávila Cardinal will discuss her new adult horror novel, “Hear the Dead” that’s set to be released on Oct. 6. An edgy, genre-bending thriller, this story follows a retired photographer who begins to hear the murders of women she knew during her punk youth, forcing her to confront a past she has spent years trying to forget.
Cardinal is a Nuyorican, a Vermont-based author and educator with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a founding faculty member of the University of San Francisco's MFA in Writing for Young Readers program. (She also has a release party planned for 7-9 p.m. on Oct. 6 at the Waterbury Grange Hall Cultural Center.)