September 26, 2024 | In-Person Event
Olympia Snowe Women's Leadership Institute – Fall Forum
Stephanie joins young women and leadership colleagues at the Cross Arena in Bangor, Maine to share her journey from performing artist to lawyer to author of My Xanthi -- and the values that sustained her.
Photo: Tobias Tullius on Unsplash
12:30pm
May 18, 2024 | In-Person Event
Hellenic American Women's Council Great Lakes Region
Stephanie joins author and journalist Maria Karamitsos in the Chicago area to sign and discuss My Xanthi at the Lincolnwood Public Library.
2:00pm CDT
December 16, 2023 | In-Person Event
Maine Authors for Lewiston
Stephanie joins fellow Maine authors to donate book sales to charities benefiting those affected by the Lewiston shooting. Lewiston Public Library, 200 Lisbon Street, Lewiston, ME.
9:30am - 12:30pm
December 9, 2023 | In-Person Event
Bangor Authors' Book Fair & Literary Festival
Stephanie joins 99+ other authors at the Bangor Public Library on this December Saturday from 10:00am to 3:30pm to sell copies of My Xanthi for the holidays -- and offer Greek music along with free Greek cookies.145 Harlow Street, Bangor, Maine.
10:00am - 3:30pm
November 30, 2023 | In-Person Event
Maine Authors for Lewiston
Stephanie joins fellow Maine authors to donate book sales to charities benefiting those affected by the Lewiston shooting. Baxter Memorial Library, 71 South Street, Gorham, ME.
4:00pm - 7:00pm
November 22, 2023 | Online Event
"WindyCity Greek" Book Giveaway
Sign up for the chance to win a free, signed copy of My Xanthi. Deadline for emailing Chicago's Maria Karamitsos is November 22, 2023 at noon, Central Standard Time.
Noon CST
September 19, 2023 | In-Person Event
Orono Public Library Book-Signing and Reading
Stephanie discusses My Xanthi's 2nd edition with friends at the Orono Public Library, 39 Pine Street, Orono, Maine.
6:00pm
September 13, 2023 | In-Person Event
Longfellow Books Book-Signing and Reading
Stephanie discusses My Xanthi's 2nd edition at the venerable Longfellow Books, 1 Monument Way, Portland, Maine.
6:00pm
August 16, 2023 | Book Signing
PRINT: A Bookstore: Launch, Book-Signing and Reading
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project's Executive Director Sue Roche joins Stephanie to launch My Xanthi's 2nd edition in collaboration with community partner PRINT: A Bookstore, 273 Congress Street, Portland, Maine.
7:00pm
October 21, 2022 | In-Person Event
Speedwell Projects Art Gallery: "Sound and Memory in Xanthi's World"
Middle Eastern music scholar and instrumentalist Nathan Kolosko joins Stephanie in an evening of words and music celebrating the haunting culture and sounds that inspired My Xanthi. Speedwell Projects Art Gallery, 630 Forest Avenue, Portland, Maine.
4:00pm
September 7, 2022 | In-Person Event
Windham Public Library Author Talk
Stephanie will present an Author Talk about the craft secrets behind My Xanthi at the Windham Public Library at 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 7. This in-person event is also accessible via Zoom. You are welcome either way!
6:00pm - 7:00pm
June 27, 2022 | In-Person Event
Book Tour: Breaking Bread: essays from New England on food, hunger, and family
Stephanie and Bill Roorbach will appear together on the book tour for the newly-released anthology, Breaking Bread: essays from New England on food, hunger, and family. Charter Books, Newport, RI, June 27.
6:00pm
February 16, 2022 | Online Event
Portland Public Library Literary Lunch series
Book-launch: reading and discussion of Cotsirilos’ My Xanthi with Sue Roche, Esq., Executive Director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP). Event co-sponsored by Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. Portland Public Library’s Literary Lunch series is held monthly and features authors from New England in conversation about new works. Authors are interviewed by literary friends, colleagues or critics.
For more information, visit the Maine Writers and Publisher's Alliance's calendar. For launch copies of My Xanthi, visit PRINT: A Bookstore in Portland, Maine.
Noon - 1:00pm
December 4, 2021 | Online Event
MSMU Reading and Discussion
Los Galesburg publisher/editor Thomas Cook and fellow author Taylor Sykes joined Cotsirilos in a private, cross-continental, virtual presentation to students of the Mount St. Mary’s University, Los Angeles MFA program. The MFA program’s Publishing Seminar co-founded Los Galesburg Press – young, diverse, and one of the few in the nation focused exclusively on the novella form that brought My Xanthi to life.
September 1, 2021 - October 1, 2021 | Retreat
Storyknife Writers Retreat
I spent September of 2021 at the Storyknife Writers Retreat in Homer, Alaska. Inspired by the venerable Hedgebrook program, Storyknife is one of the few U.S. residencies for women writers. I was grateful to have been named Storyknife’s first Katahdin Fellow.
VisitApril 21, 2021 - May 15, 2021 | Conferences
Conferences
Alumna of Grub Street’s The Muse & The Marketplace and Washington Writers Conference.
October 29, 2020 | Online Event
Renegade Writers
Samaa Abdurraquib, Kerem Durdag and I held hands across cultures to take our interarts writers series from stage to video. Guest artists Kafari, Andy Happel, and Donna Loring joined us for original poetry and prose, keyboards, fiddling and more, captured amid Maine’s outdoor beauty by cinematographer Chek Wingo.
October 22, 2020 - October 26, 2020 | Online Event
The Writers Hotel
The superb Writers Hotel conference’s poetry weekend via Zoom took place from October 22-26, 2020 and included conversations with U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo and Cornelius Eady; classes with Terrance Hayes, Jenny Xie, Alexandra Oliver, and Mark Doty; and conference participants’ virtual poetry readings, which were open to the public.
March 12, 2020 | Renegade Writers
Renegade Writers: In Waiting
At a turning point for the COVID-19 threat in Maine, we postponed our March 12 Renegade Writers performance — and soon placed all Renegade Writers performances on hold. Meanwhile, we wished you and your loved ones safety and peace of mind.
APRIL 2: THE SERIES WAS TO PRESENT ITS FINALE
Stephanie Cotsirilos and guest artists including Donna Loring offer an evening of legacy, women forebears in the whirlwind, humor, music and maybe Greek dancing. Samaa Abdurraquib and Kerem Durdag will join in.
MARCH 12: THE SERIES WAS TO CONTINUE
Kerem Durdag and guest violinist/fiddler Andy Happel whip up an evening of words, song, passion, and humor on the theme of the immigrant experience. Samaa Abdurraqib and I will join in.
Stephanie Cotsirilos’ and Kerem Durdag’s customized invitations pictured.
February 6, 2020 | Renegade Writers
Renegade Writers: Opening
Despite icy weather here in Maine, a warm, committed, plentiful audience took off their winter coats, brought their wine and cheese with them from the lobby, and settled into chairs Portland Ballet had grouped around bistro tables in its Studio Theater. Samaa Abdurraquib and guest Maya Williams led Kerem Durdag and me in sharing words, music, and more after a turbulent week of news. Audience members told us they loved the work and the respite it afforded them. Onward . . .
Samaa Abdurraqib’s customized invitation pictured
October 18, 2019 - October 19, 2019 | Festival
FoCo Book Fest
Cotsirilos read her work in Colorado at the Fort Collins Book Festival’s launch of Hunger: The Best of Brilliant Flash Fiction 2014-2019. The anthology includes “Peepers,” accessible at this website.
FoCo Book Fest combined bright mountain light with literary events – including a gracious presentation by author Rick Bass and a Spanish/English workshop for young writers by San Antonio, Texas Poet Laureate Octavio Quintanilla – with events addressing connections among food, sustainability, ethics, politics, and justice. Author Toni Tipton-Martin walked through two centuries of African-American cookbooks and how the strong and elegant women behind them defied stereotype. In his closing keynote, Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman presented “The (R)evolution of Indigenous Food Systems of North America” in moving, unsparing detail to challenge the audience toward honesty and forward movement. Chef Sherman is the recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s 2019 Leadership Award.
Additionally, Kathy Fish and Iris Jamahl Dunkle offered smart, compassionate workshops that left participants wanting to write more.
More at Brilliant Flash Fiction’s website.
July 14, 2019 | Renegade Writers
Renegade Writers Summer Update
Unsuspected writers read their work aloud in a summer evening of laughter and thought-provoking stories and poems by Samaa Abdurraqib, Tae Chong, Kerem Durdag, and Portland Ballet’s former Interim Executive Director, Stephanie Cotsirilos. Portland Ballet Studio Theater, 517 Forest Avenue, Portland, Maine, July 14, 2019, 7:00 pm.
June 1, 2019 | Writers Hotel
The Writers Hotel
Alumna of The Writers Hotel conference, June 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, New York City with readings yearly at KGB Bar in the East Village.