Victoria Arlen to Headline Exeter LitFest

Victoria Arlen and Roland Merullo Headline Second Exeter LitFest in April

EXETER__The Second Annual Exeter LitFest, which celebrates the literary community in and around Exeter, will take place the weekend of April 3 and 4, with featured guests Exeter native Victoria Arlen and award-winning author Roland Merullo.

Arlen, current television personality for ESPN and former American paralympic swimmer, is the author of “Locked In: The Will to Survive and the Resolve to Life.” Her book tells her miraculous story of recovery after falling into a mysterious vegetative state at age eleven, how she overcame the odds, learned to walk again, competed on Dancing with the Stars, and is living a full life.

“We are thrilled that Victoria would take time out of her busy schedule to return to Exeter and participate in the festival,” LitFest Board Chair Renay Allen-Hitzrot said. “She is a very accomplished young woman, and her story is quite inspirational."

Roland Merullo, the author of 24 books including 17 works of fiction, and a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, will also headline the event. Merullo's latest book, “Once Night Falls”, was selected as a November 2019 pick by Amazon First Reads' editors who called the novel "Both epic and intimate in its portrayal of World War II Italy."

Held for the first time in April of 2019, the Exeter LitFest recently received approval as a 501C-3 non-profit organization with the intention of making the festival an annual event.

This year’s festival will kick off on Friday, April 3 with Beat Poets, organized by TEAM, and a youth variety show at the Exeter Area YMCA. Other events include a Poetry Writing Walking Tour that will be created and led by the Exeter High School Poetry Team.

In addition to showcasing local authors and poets, this year’s LitFest will also feature sessions for aspiring writers. Publishing industry veteran Jeremy Townsend will be moderating a panel on book publishing, which will include bookselling professional Deidre Randall of Peter E. Randall Publisher, and Debra Woodward.

The LitFest is pleased to once again partner with the Exeter Public Library, where a number of events will take place during the festival.

The LitFest wraps up on Saturday night April 4 at the Word Barn with a local songwriters’ circle, which will include five songwriters on stage at the same time, taking turns discussing their writing process, story behind their songs, and performing those songs.

The inaugural festival in April of 2019 included a keynote by Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, as well as events with Joe Hill, Brendan Dubois, and NH Teen Poet Laureate Cate Dixon.

The Exeter Lit Fest’s mission is “To leverage our wealth of local literary treasure, in an environmentally sustainable way, to connect both residents and tourists to the diverse literary voices and places of greater Exeter, NH for the benefit of children and adults, the local arts community, and local businesses.” For more information, visit www.exeterlitfest.com