Maundy Mitchell, Writer & Artist

08/15/2026

My last read was The Things We Never Say, by Elizabeth Strout. It made the longlist for the Booker Prize this year and I just loved it. It’s about loneliness and grief, and how these things are passed to the next generation. But it’s about so much more than that. It’s a great read!

This weekend I’m starting All Them Dogs, by Djamel White. This is another of this year’s Booker Prize longlisters. The author is from Dublin, where the novel is set. I was in Dublin when the news hit about the Booker longlist, and the Irish went wild with pride! I adore how they support literature and the arts. I can’t wait to read this.

What is everyone reading this weekend?

Djamel

08/13/2026

This writer walked into a pub in rural Ireland with Claire Keegan. Before long, twenty more writers joined them. A man who was sitting at the bar said to another, “They must be lost!”

You can read more about the writers' retreat I attended last month in Ireland on my Substack page. While you’re there, I’d love for you to subscribe. It’s free and I promise not to spam you!

https://maundymitchell.substack.com/p/this-writer-walked-into-a-pub

08/05/2026

This evening I get to start The Things We Never Say, by Elizabeth Strout. It was one of the 13 books that made the longlist for the Booker Prize.

What are you reading?

Elizabeth Strout

08/04/2026

What a wonderful time last night with New York Times best-selling author Joyce Maynard | NYT Bestselling Author Scarlet Letter Books
We talked about her new book In Wonderland, some of her other books, writing, and life. Thank you, Joyce, for coming to Plymouth!

07/30/2026

If you'll be in New Hampshire, we hope you'll join us at Scarlet Letter Books in Plymouth.

New York Times best-selling author Joyce Maynard is coming to Scarlet Letter Books in Plymouth, NH!

06/12/2026

Author Shasta Grant and I grew up in the same hometown of Newport, NH. It's the main setting of her intriguing new novel, When We Were Feral. I'll be in conversation with her on Tuesday, 6/16 at 6:00 p.m. at Scarlet Letter Books in Plymouth, NH. We would love to see you there!

05/29/2026

Here's my latest post on Substack. It's a short piece about how a place can connect the past and present. I hope you enjoy it.
If you haven't already, subscribe to my Substack. It's free and my occasional posts will land in your inbox without you having to do anything more. :)

The Winding Stair is an historic bookshop in Dublin, Ireland.

04/22/2026

Pickles McGee died unexpectedly yesterday. My heart is broken. She was the sweetest bird. She enjoyed listening to 1950s music, watching Shirley Temple movies, sitting on my shoulder, and poking holes in the pages of whatever book I was reading. My favorite thing about her was the names she had for each of us. These were what she heard each of us say most often. She called David “Boo Mom!” and Matt “Birdy Birdy.” When I returned from a trip in March, she flew to me, yelling the name she called me: “LOVE YOU! LOVE YOU! LOVE YOU!”

This is a self portrait with Pickles.