Word, Blue Hill's Oct. 22-25 literary arts festival, concludes Sun, Oct. 25, with a poetry/dance performance and a chat about Maine's master of horror.

Starting at 1 p.m. at Blue Hill Public Library, Caroline Bicks, author of "Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King," will discuss the ideas behind her popular new book with Laura Miller, Slate books and culture columnist. A longtime horror reader, Bicks is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine and made literary history by becoming the first scholar granted extended access to King’s private archives.

At 4 p.m. Sunday at The Bay School, Word follows the festival tradition of ending with a "word-adjacent" art form. “Monson, Maine, USA” is a dance, poetry, and theater work anchored by the poem “Monson, Maine, USA” set to music by Frigg, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and Maria Kalaniemi and Eero Grundström. The performance is at times comic, at times heartrending, exploring how people and landscape change and solidify over time.

The performers will be Maine's poet laureate Dawn Potter joined by poet/performance artist Gretchen Berg, poet Teresa Carson and dancer Gwyneth Jones.

Festival-goers will meet the winner of Word’s third annual writing contest during Conversation, Cookies & Cider at The Bay School before the performance. Cookies and cider will be served starting at 3 p.m. Lucy Marcus of Brooksville will read her contest-winning short story at 3:45.

Word’s media partner is WERU-FM. Its fiscal sponsor is Blue Hill Community Development.

Information: wordfestival.org or 374-5632.