Welcome to Bookstock 2025
Bookstock, Woodstock’s celebration of books and storytelling, will host a remarkable group of award-winning authors and poets at Bookstock 2025, on May 16-17-18. Opening night events take place at Artistree. On Saturday, you’ll find talks and readings by award-winning authors and poets, our great used book sale, exhibitors, music, activities for children, and food on and around The Green in the heart of our town. Be sure to visit Norman Williams Public Library for their own used and rare book sale. Plus there’s plenty to experience around our town, including restaurants, bakeries, and many interesting local shops.
Visiting Woodstock for our festival? Here are suggestions for where to stay, eat, and shop while you’re in town.
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Activities On The Green
Activities on the Green
are FREE!
Friday's Events and Workshops
2:00 – 3:30 | Artistree
Workshop – Learn to Make Dragon Books. Leader/artist Carolyn Shattuck will guide the class in the use of bookbinding skills to learn the folding structure and make your own Dragon book.
4:00 – 5:30 | North Chapel Parlor
Workshop – Author/Instructor Joni B. Cole will lead an interactive workshop titled This is the Time When . . . A Workshop for Everyone with a Story to Tell
Activities On The Green
Activities on the Green
are FREE!
Saturday's Events and Workshops
10:00 – 11:30 | The Little Theater
Author – Marjan Kamali, the 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Award, will Discuss her best-selling book The Lion Women of Tehran.
11:00 – 12:00 | St. James Church
Poetry Reading – Robert Pinsky, the author of several books of poetry and the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1997 to 2000, will hold a poetry reading. Also see the poetry readings at the Bookstock Poetry Festival on Sunday.
12:00 – 1:30 | NWPL
Author – Peter Canellos, the author of The Great Dissenter, will discuss his upcoming book about the conservative legal movement, based on the life of Samuel Alito.
12:00 – 1:30 | The Little Theater
Workshop – Senator Rocket, the creative force behind Eat Vermont, will lead a workshop on Effective Storytelling on Social Media and explore the power of storytelling to build empathy.
2:00 – 3:30 | The Little Theater
Author – Alison Espach, the New York Times best-selling author will be discussing her book, The Wedding People.
4:00 – 5:30 | The Little Theater
Author – Kevin Fedarko, the author of the bestseller A Walk in the Park, which won the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, will discuss his book and show slides of his adventure.
Activities On The Green
Activities on the Green
are FREE!
Sunday's Events and Workshops
9:00 – 10:30 | Ottauquechee Health Foundation
Workshop – Erika Nichols-Frazer will lead a workshop on Memoir Writing designed to help writers of all ages and stages unlock their stories and tell them well in their own memoirs.
10:30 – 12:00 | The Little Theater
Poetry Readings – Four noted poets, Chard deNiord, former Vermont Poet Laureate; Didi Jackson, the recipient of the Poetry Society of America’s Robert H. Winner Memorial Award; Major Jackson, a recipient of a Pushcart Prize; and Alison Prine, winner of the Sappho’s Prize in Poetry, will share the stage during this year’s Bookstock Poetry Festival. Also see Robert Pinsky, the former US Poet Laureate, at his reading on Saturday.
10:30 – 12:00 | Billings Farm
Author – Steve Kemp has spent a career working in national parks. He will discuss his upcoming book An Exaltation of Parks: John D Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands
12:15 – 1:30 | Billings Farm
Author – Carriage Road Walk and Talk. Author Steve Kemp a former National Park Ranger, will lead a walk along a carriage trail in Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. Learn about the history of the carriage trails and enjoy one of the most beautiful walks in Woodstock.
1:00 – 2:30 | The Little Theater
Workshop – Poet, artist and filmmaker Bimpé Fageyinbo will hold a workshop titled The Art of Poetic Conversation and explore the importance of conversation and the internal monologue in crafting poetics.
1:00 – 4:00 | Town Hall Theatre
Who Gets to Decide Your Story? – In our closing event for the weekend, we’ll show the film American Fiction and follow it with a panel of publishing pros, who’ll share their insider views on this and other major themes that the film raises.
3:00 – 4:00 | Town Hall Theatre
Who Gets to Decide Your Story? – For those who have already seen the film American Fiction, come and join the discussion with the panel of publishing pros, who’ll share their insider views on this and other major themes that the film raises.
Bookstock Venues
Artistree = Artistree Community Arts Center, 2095 Pomfret Rd, South Pomfret
North Chapel Parlor = North Universalist Chapel, 7 Church St., Woodstock
The Little Theater = 54 River St. Woodstock
NWPL = Norman Williams Public Library, 10 The Green, Woodstock
Focus = the Focus Vermont Gallery, 23 Elm St, Woodstock
Billings = Billings Farm & Museum, 69 Old River Road, Woodstock
OHF = Ottauquechee Health Foundation, 2nd Floor, 32 Pleasant St, Woodstock
St. James = St. James Episcopal Church, 2 St. James Place, Woodstock
Town Hall Theatre = The Woodstock Town Hall Theatre, 31 The Green, Woodstock
