Exploring the struggle between good and evil

The tradition of fostering the affiliation of the literary genre of science (speculative) fiction/fantasy with Milford and the Milford Readers and Writers Festival continues. This year the festival’s Science Fiction/Fantasy Panel discussion will take place on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 11 a.m., at Pike County Public Library on Harford Street.

With “The Monsters That Make Us” as its theme, this panel will explore the struggle between good and evil. The panel, with Karen Heuler as its moderator, will explore the fundamental conflict between the world we know and the world as it may be changed.

Heuler, who is an O. Henry Award winner and the author of “The Splendid City” and the story collection, “A Slice of the Dark Side,” will be joined by Erika Swyler, Stephanie Feldman, Robert Levy and Charles E. Gannon.

Swyler is a nationally best-selling author of genre-twisting novels including “Light From Other Stars” and “The Book of Speculation.”

Feldman is the author of the “Saturnalia” novels and “The Angel of Losses.” She is also a Crawford Fantasy Award winner.

Levy, author and forensic pathologist, has had his short stories published in multiple genre magazines and in “The Years Best Speculative Fiction.” His short story collection “No One Dies From Love: Dark Tales of Love and Longing” was published earlier this year.

Gannon, a former professor of English and Fulbright Fellow, is the award-winning author of the “Caine Riordan” novels, “The Vortex of Worlds” fantasy series and the ALA Choice Award-winning book “Rumors of War and Infernal Machines.”

These authors also will take part in two more events later Saturday. From 2 to 4 p.m., they will be signing and selling their books at the Golden Fish Art Gallery located at 307 Broad St., Milford.

That evening they will be present at the special event “Books and Brews,” which takes place at the Dimmick Inn on Harford Street where they will be doing readings from their books.

Seating will begin at 7 p.m., and the readings will begin at 8.

Brews and specialized drinks as well as copies of their books will be available for purchase.

There will be more free events, book signings and readings by authors at several venues around Milford, in addition to paid mainstage events, Sept. 22-24 as part of the festival.

For more information and to purchase festival passes, or individual tickets go to milfordreadersandwriters.com

The Milford Readers & Writers Festival is a project of Pike Artworks, Inc., a 501-c-3 not-for-profit organized by a group of community volunteers from the Upper Delaware River Valley region.