By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(Oct. 8, 2026) Stories of the Eastern Shore will be for sale and on display in Berlin later this month at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum’s annual book festival.

The museum’s fourth annual festival will feature authors and publishers from across the region on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Taylor House Executive Director Melissa Reid said this is the third time the museum is working with Berlin-based book publisher Salt Water Media to bring novels and real-life accounts to the museum’s lawn.

“That was a big game changer for us because of [Salt Water Media’s] relationship with other local publishers,” Reid said. “They can bring the other local publishers in, so it’s really elevated the book festival to something much more professional.”

In addition to Salt Water Media, the publishing companies participating include Tidewater Publishers, Secant Publishing, and Byzantium Sky Press.

Each business will set up its own table and sell its published works. Reid added that a featured author will tag along with the publishers to represent the organizations’ catalogs.

Stephanie Fowler of Salt Water Media, for instance, will attend. Fowler is a nationally award-winning author who has written books including “Into the Night” and “Chasing Alice,” which detail true and noteworthy Eastern Shore incidents.

“Because our whole point is local stories, we make sure that the books and authors are local,” Reid said.

Bookstores and sellers will also participate, including Snow Hill’s Caprichos Books, Berlin’s The Greyhound, and author Michael Day.

To enhance the day’s autumnal and community spirit, attendees can grab a sweet treat and a specialty alcoholic beverage as they browse the literature.

Sweet Addictions will sell desserts, along with tea from Little Green Witch Apothecary. Caprichos Books will also be offering literary-themed chocolates from a Baltimore-based company, Reid said.

Additionally, guests may sip on a glass of wine or a signature cocktail crafted by Forgotten 50 as they shop and browse the bookish selections.

The local partnerships extend beyond the Eastern Shore. The Taylor House is collaborating with the Maryland Humanities program One Maryland One Book, a project that aims to unite Marylanders through reading and discussions. The Berlin museum will have this year’s choice for attendees to pick up.

The 2026 One Maryland One Book selection is “No Sense in Wishing: Essays on Black Music, Belonging, and Baltimore,” by Lawrence Burney.

The Taylor House is also working with Maryland Humanities on an exhibit highlighting the First Amendment.

Reid said that in celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary, Maryland Humanities has assembled a traveling showcase featuring a look into one of the democratic pillars, the freedom of the press, and how it relates to the early formation of the United States’ government.

The Taylor House also has created its own version to augment the display.

The museum is using the local book, “Murder on Maryland’s Eastern Shore,” by Joseph Moore for its presentation. The work takes a deep dive into a quadruple homicide that happened just outside of Berlin in 1931 and the racially charged public outcry that followed.

According to Reid, the man accused of the attack was a black man during a time when innocent African Americans were being implicated in violent crimes. The victims were a farmer, his wife, and their two daughters.

Moore’s book examines newspapers from the time, including a Black-centered outlet in Baltimore and The Baltimore Sun, and analyzes how the facts were presented differently from one news outlet to another. The Taylor House’s exhibit incorporates these newspapers.

Beach to Bay Heritage Area will also be on-site conducting its own project to honor the country’s 250th birthday.

Reid noted that the organization will be at the festival recording oral histories as part of its “250 Voices” initiative. The museum will give away copies of this year and last year’s One Maryland One Book selection to anyone who does an oral history with Beach to Bay.

Reid said that about 200 people attend the Book Festival each year. She added that the idea grew out of the facility’s former Harvest Festival, which failed to draw much traffic.

“We were trying to think of two things: How to tell the stories of Berlin. That’s our motto,” the executive director said. “And then come up with something Berlin doesn’t have…there is no point in overlapping something already happening in the Town of Berlin.

“We want to make sure we’re complementing things, not competing. We had the idea because Berlin doesn’t have a book festival. So, it fits…and we already have books for sale in our gift shop, and we also have connections with local booksellers.”

The event is open to all. Reid emphasized the importance of promoting reading and regional history, and encouraged town residents to find their way to the museum’s lawn.

The literary event is taking place at the same time and day as Berlin’s Oktoberfest, which organizers hope draws in a crowd.

“Certainly, history has a tendency to repeat itself, and so I think it’s crucial the more we learn from our history the more we can pave a more just way forward,” Reid said.