ROCKLAND — What exactly is a novella? How does it differ from a short story or a novel, and why has the form produced some of literature's most enduring works?

Those questions will be at the heart of “What Is a Novella?: Writers on Fiction's Most Elusive Form,” a panel discussion hosted by Millay House Rockland and The Arctic Tern Bookshop, on Thursday, July 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The event will be held both virtually and in-person at The Arctic Tern Sanctuary, 432 Main Street, Rockland.

The panel brings together four acclaimed fiction writers—William Torrey, Lewis Robinson, CB Anderson, and Cynthia Reeves—for a lively conversation about one of fiction's most distinctive yet frequently misunderstood literary forms.

William Torrey, Millay House Rockland’s current juried Writer-in-Residence, is the author of the forthcoming novella Freedom of Movement and a Pushcart Prize-winning fiction writer. Lewis Robinson is the award-winning author of Water Dogs, The Islanders, and Officer Friendly and Other Stories, and teaches creative writing at the University of Maine Farmington. CB Anderson is the author of the forthcoming novella Unseen Worlds, the Kirkus-starred story collection River Talk, Blue Lion Days: Stories, and Home Now: How 6000 Refugees Transformed an American Town. Panel moderator Cynthia Reeves is the author of Badlands, winner of Miami University Press’s Novella Prize, and taught the novella at Bryn Mawr and Rosemont Colleges.

The discussion will explore questions that appeal to devoted readers and aspiring writers: How do authors know a story wants to become a novella? What narrative opportunities does the form provide? Which classic and contemporary novellas have most influenced these writers? What are the challenges—and rewards—of publishing a novella in today’s marketplace?

Admission is free and open to the public. In-person and virtual registration can be found here.

The Millay House Rockland is the birthplace of Pulitzer prize-winning poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. It has been preserved and restored by the Millay House Rockland board whose mission is to to further poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s legacy by supporting writers, nurturing literary learning, and cultivating community in Midcoast Maine. The Writer-in-Residence program offers two juried residencies each year in partnership with the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation.