2025 Writer-in-Residence
The Concord Free Public Library and the Trustees of CFPL Corporation are delighted to announce their 2025 Writer-in-Residence – Steve Edwards. Steve Edwards is the author of the memoir Breaking into the Backcountry, the story of the seven months he spent as the lone caretaker of a remote homestead along the federally designated “Wild and Scenic” Rogue River in Oregon. He is also the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Fiction/Nonfiction, and the author of essays that have appeared in The Sun, Orion, Literary Hub, and Longreads, including works dedicated to Henry David Thoreau and the natural and literary spaces of Concord and beyond. His latest work, an essay about the intersection of writing, mental health, and neurodiversity, was one of The Yale Review’s most-read articles in 2024. A professor of English studies at Fitchburg State University and a visiting lecturer at Tufts University, he lives in the area with his wife and son.
A panel of Library staff, CFPL Corporation members, and board members of the Friends of CFPL reviewed over 70 applications in Fall 2024, after which they presented the top applications to a review board of local celebrated authors for final decision. Edwards stood apart from a talented group of applicants in part because his focus on nature and his background in teaching young writers align closely with Concord literary history and the Library’s outreach goals.
The Library’s annual Writer-in-Residence appointment is funded by a generous grant from the Concord Free Public Library Corporation, which provides a stipend and private office space in which the Resident can write, hold office hours, and plan creative community writing programs and workshops. “I am always hoping to enlarge my circles of knowing and connecting, and to draw people into spirited creative expression using language. I’m excited to get to know the Concord community better in the coming months,” said Edwards.