📚 Get Ready to Meet Local Authors at
the North Hampton Public Library! 📚
Come join us every month as we welcome local authors to the library to share their stories with our community!
🖋️ Meet Local Talent: Join our guest authors as they discuss their latest publications and share their creative journey with you.
📖 Dive into Great Stories: Whether you’re into heartfelt memoirs or thrilling mysteries, these authors have got stories that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
🛍️ Snag Your Next Page-Turner: Want to take a piece of the magic home? Grab a copy of the featured author’s book at the event, maybe even get it signed! Support local writers and score some awesome reads.
🗓️ Save the Date: Don’t miss out! Keep an eye on our event schedule for the latest information on the next Visiting Author session. Be sure to pencil it in and come join the fun!
These programs are free and open to the general public. Registration is not required.
Want to buy a copy? Shop locally with Water Street Bookstore!
Visiting Author Series: Thomas North: The Original Author of Shakespeare’s Plays by Dennis McCarthy
Thursday, April 24, 6:00 PM
Acclaimed researcher Dennis McCarthy presents the true story of Sir Thomas North, the scholarly knight whose thrilling and shocking life was later adapted into plays by Shakespeare.
Dennis McCarthy presents the gripping true story of Sir Thomas North, the scholar-knight who transformed the most thrilling and shocking moments of his life into plays later adapted by Shakespeare.
Working from a series of manuscript discoveries that have garnered worldwide attention (including coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe Magazine, U.S. News, etc.), McCarthy provides numerous proofs that North wrote more than thirty plays, mostly for the Earl of Leicester’s theater troupe, years before Shakespeare reached London. Then, in the 1590s and early 1600s, Shakespeare reworked North’s plays for the public stage.
Newfound proofs of North’s authorship include Shakespearean passages and scenes found in his unpublished handwritten travel journal. North wrote the diary to record his wondrous experiences in Italy—and then transformed some of his entries into elaborate set-pieces in the plays. North also used certain texts from the North family library as a playwright’s workbook, writing out marginal comments in the books to underscore the events, characters, and speeches he intended to dramatize. One of these books includes North’s entire outline of the historical plot of a Shakespeare play.
Perhaps most significantly, Thomas North demonstrates that North actually lived the plays before he wrote them and that even many of the most iconic scenes in the canon derive from striking events that North actually experienced. The book also reveals for the first time North’s historical involvement in the Essex Rebellion and why neither he nor Shakespeare was punished for the treasonous play, Richard II.
Thomas North also examines many hundreds of lines and passages that have been taken from North’s published prose translations and recycled in Shakespeare’s plays, most of which are unique, occurring nowhere else in the history of English literature. As the book confirms, no one has borrowed more from an earlier writer than Shakespeare has from North, and it is not even close.
Finally, Thomas North includes documentation indicating North was a playwright for Leicester’s Men and explains why so many playwrights of the era (like North) never published their plays. It also shows how, to meet increasing public demand, the commercial theater companies began to revive plays previously performed at court, private manors, and universities. As part of this London-wide pattern of revivals, Shakespeare purchased and reworked North’s old dramas, resulting in the most celebrated works of literature in English history. In truth, scholars have always known that Shakespeare frequently adapted old plays. They just never knew who had written them.
With Thomas North, the mysteries that have plagued Shakespeare studies for centuries now finally have an answer.
Open to all ages; geared towards adults
Visiting Author Series: Endangered Species: Chronicles of the Life of a New England Fisherman and the F/V Ellen Diane by David Goethel
Thursday, May 29, 6:00 PM
If David Goethel was a cat, he would be in the market for more lives. But David is a small boat fisherman, an endangered species, who works tirelessly for himself and others like him to survive.
A journey through time while demonstrating why some individuals will always be called to work the sea.
Follow along on that journey, sea stories and autobiography mixed with twists and turns of science and management as David and his family work relentlessly to feed America sustainable seafood. Fishing is not a job; it is a way of life. David is determined to maintain that life fighting through storm tossed adversity that nature lays out endlessly, and the new sinister efforts of a modern society who live on land and have no concept of how those at sea ensure their own survival as well as the fish on which they depend. Reading Endangered Species will take readers on a journey through time while demonstrating why some individuals will always be called to work the sea.
Open to all ages; geared towards adults
Visiting Author Series: Hi Mom, I Love You: From Shame to Pride: My Journey of Self-Acceptance by John Robert
Tuesday, June 24, 6:00 PM
John Robert is a web developer turned artist after psychics predicted his creative destiny—a journey that led him to paint his pain and pride across 44 original artworks in this memoir.
His story isn’t just about coming out as gay; it’s about unraveling a lifetime of shame to finally hear his own voice.
A journey through vulnerability and triumph, blending raw memoir with the transformative power of art.
Follow John’s path from self-doubt to pride as he navigates childhood scars, spiritual awakenings, and the unexpected guidance that redirected his life toward creativity. Through 44 original artworks woven into his story, he paints not just his pain but the radiant self-acceptance that follows. Hi Mom, I Love You is more than a coming-out story—it’s a homecoming to the soul.
Celebrate John’s art all month long!
In June, John will be our Artist of the Month. Visit the library anytime during June to see his evocative artwork—including pieces described in the book—on display.
This memoir is a testament to resilience, a love letter to the queer experience, and a beacon for anyone yearning to embrace their truth.
Open to all ages; geared towards adults
Visiting Author Series: The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen
Saturday, July 19, 1:00 PM
Award-winning author and illustrator Chris Van Dusen brings to life whimsical tales filled with humor and heart. Born in Portland, Maine, his childhood love for drawing aliens and robots evolved into a celebrated career crafting beloved children’s books like “The Circus Ship.” With inspirations ranging from Dr. Seuss to coastal Maine, his vibrant stories and meticulous illustrations continue to captivate young readers worldwide.
📚 Join us for our Visiting Authors Series at the North Hampton Public Library! 📚
Come join us every month as we welcome local authors to the library to share their stories with our community!
🖋️ Meet Local Talent: Join our guest authors as they discuss their latest publications and share their creative journey with you.
📖 Dive into Great Stories: Whether you’re into heartfelt memoirs or thrilling mysteries, these authors have got stories that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
🛍️ Snag Your Next Page-Turner: Want to take a piece of the magic home? Grab a copy of the featured author’s book at the event, maybe even get it signed! Support local writers and score some awesome reads.
Open to all ages; geared towards young children & families
This program is free and open to the general public. Seating is first-come-first-serve.
Registration is not required.