Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, short story writer, screenwriter and teacher Richard Russo will be the keynote speaker for the Sixth Annual Bangor Book Festival, October 19-20, 2012, in downtown Bangor. Russo will be joined by his daughter, the artist Kate Russo, and more than 30 Maine-based and Maine-connected, writers, essayists and illustrators who will participate in panels, readings and signings at the Bangor Public Library and other downtown Bangor venues.

The 2012 Festival will also include the world-premiere of a new musical work by composer Don Stratton.

Authors and writers at the 2012 event include: Amy Faircloth, Andrew Barton, Annette Vance Dorey, Ardeana Hamlin, Barbara Walsh, Bruce Pratt, Carol Bachofner, David Sloan, Edie Clark, Eva Murray, Hank Garfield, Hannah Wirth, Helen Wilbur, Hilary Weisman Graham, Jane Karker, Jeff & Allison Wells, Jim Witherell, John Cobb, Josh Alves, Kate Shaffer, Kevin Hawkes, Lea Wait, Lee Francis, Lisa Coleman, Lou Ureneck, Mary Cerullo, Monica Wood, Morgan Callan Rogers, Preston Hood, Richard Russo, Kate Russo, Shannon Delany, Sharon Lee, Steven Miller, Susan Lubner, Trudy Scee, and The Yankee Chef Jim Bailey.