Richard Morais to help guide the future of Readers and Writers Festival

Milford Readers and Writers Festival (MRAW) was started in 2016 by co-founders Amy Ferris, Sean Strub, Suzanne Levine, and Bob Levine with the vision of having people who read books interact with the people who write them. It has become one of the jewels of Milford, drawing people from nearby New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and even California. Every year at the end of the festival, the Board does a post-mortem and looks for new vistas, and areas of growth. The festival has enjoyed many top notch, well-known guests, and during these years, there have been significant incarnations of its original mission, but always with the same goal of having readers and writers engage in stimulating and interesting conversation. Now, as the festival approaches its seminal 10th year, the organizers have reached out to Richard Morais (a long-time Milford resident, author, novelist, and journalist) to offer him the newly created position of editorial director of the festival.

Edson Whitney, co-chair of the festival, who will be retiring at the end of the year, said, “Richard has always been a big supporter of the festival. He actually has participated in the festival, at one time reading excerpts from one of his books (‘The man with no borders’), interviewing Yale historian Paul Freedman about the culinary worthiness of American food, and more recently, having a conversation with Tim Turner about Turner’s new book, ‘The Reluctant Conductor,’ a vivid depiction of 1920s life in a Moldovan shtetl. Morais will not be on the Board, but will work as an advisor to the Program Committee and the Board to bring new, fresh ideas to continue the quality of the program we offer,” said Whitney.

Festival Co-Chair Carol McManus remarked, “When you have someone like Richard, a best-selling author who is deeply connected with the publishing industry and other authors, you want to find a way to work with him to open doors that we may or may not be able to open on our own. As editorial director, he will be identifying authors and topics that support our mission of having readers and writers in conversation. He won’t be a decision maker, but will be an advisor on the content and will make introductions to us.”

Brian Carso, who will be taking over Whitney’s role as co-chair at the beginning of the year, mentioned that he is a great fan of Morais. “He has some really great ideas and impressive personal connections.”

Richard Morais is indeed in a position to bring many new perspectives to the festival. He was born in Portugal, grew up in Zurich, went to Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and spent 18 years in London as Forbes’s European bureau chief. In addition to being an award -winning financial journalist, he is best known for his New York Times bestselling novel, “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” which was made into a movie produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, staring Helen Mirren and Om Puri. In addition to his other books, “The Man with No Borders,” and “Buddhaland Brooklyn,” his forthcoming book, “The New Rules of Investing,” co- authored with Mark Haefele, will be out soon.

And with all of this, he is excited about this new position of being editorial director of MRAW. “I’m interested in maintaining and expanding the quality and quirkiness of the festival.”

Richard Morais is truly a man for all seasons, and he is looking forward to the 10th season of the festival — September 12,13, and 14, in 2025 — at the Milford Theater.