How Will Maine Fishing Families Weather the Storm: A Conversation Between a Bestselling Maine Writer and a Leading Maine Fishing Advocate

Join Maine Maritime Museum and The Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association for a talk with Maine author Susan Conley, author of the new, bestselling novel Landslide, and Monique Coombs, Director of Community Programs at the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association.

Conley is a fourth-generation Mainer who grew up in Midcoast Maine. Her latest novel Landslide is a love letter to her home state that in part asks what can be done to save commercial fishing in Maine—one of the state’s most storied industries. The novel takes us to a modern fishing village where livelihoods are jeopardized by warming waters. As compelling as it is moving, the book speaks to the landslide of change that Maine fishing families face today. Many argue that there isn’t a more sustainable commercial fishery than Maine’s, but how will the state and its fishing families weather the coming changes? Susan will be joined by Maine Coast Fisherman’s Associations Director of Community Programs Monique Coombs, who works with commercial fishermen to bring sustainability to Maine fishing and fishing families, and is also a wife and mother of a Maine fishing family.

Susan Conley grew up in Midcoast Maine and is the author of five critically acclaimed books, including her recent, bestselling novel Landslide which was named a New York Times “Editor’s Choice” and a “Best Book” by Good Morning America, The New York Post, and others. She’s been awarded multiple fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, as well as fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, The Maine Arts Commission, and the Massachusetts Arts Council. She’s won the Maine Book Award and the Maine Award for Publishing Excellence and has been a featured Tedx Speaker, where her talk the “Power of Story,” has been viewed widely. She lives with her family in Portland, Maine, where she’s the co-founder of the Telling Room, a youth creative writing center.

Monique Coombs is Director of Community Programs at the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association where she works with commercial fishermen to develop ways to protect, persevere, and revitalize Maine’s working waterfronts, bringing sustainability to fishing and fishing families. Monique is also a wife and mother of a local fishing family with intimate knowledge of the challenges fishing families face. Monique has been published in National Fisherman, Commercial Fisheries News, Heated, HuffPost Green, and Civil Eats.

Proceeds from this event will benefit both Maine Maritime Museum and the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association.

Copies of Landslide will be available for purchase at the talk and through our online reservations.