In this talk, Craven will describe and share the satisfactions and challenges that come from a deep immersion into place-based narrative.

Craven is a long-time Northeast Kingdom, Vermont filmmaker, teacher and arts activist whose mission has been the advancement of community and culture. For five decades Jay has written, produced, and directed character-driven films deeply rooted in Vermont and New England, including five films based on the works of Howard Frank Mosher. His latest film, Lost Nation, digs into the parallel stories of Ethan Allen and the pioneering Black Guilford poet Lucy Terry Prince. His 2025 film, George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara, is now in post-production, and he's planning a 2026 production that will be based on two stories: Henrik Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People, and Dashiell Hammett's noir novel Red Harvest.

Sponsored by Vermont Humanities and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, the event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.