Sheila Dixon release

The 14th annual literary arts festival takes place September 25, 26 & 27 and opens for the first time at noon
on Friday

Baltimore Book Festival returns for its 14th year on Friday, September 25, Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27. New in 2009, the festival times have changed to Friday and Saturday from 12-8pm and Sunday from 12-7pm. Guests are invited to spend their Friday lunch hour at the Baltimore Book Festival. This year’s festival features more than 100 local and celebrity authors including political activist Ralph Nader, who is considered one of the most influential Americans of the 20th century; successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker Chris Gardner, author of Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be; Tory Johnson, author of the bestselling Fired to Hired and “Good Morning America’s” award-winning workplace guru and CEO of Women For Hire; Gwen Ifill moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” and senior correspondent for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer;” Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 astronaut and one of the first humans to walk on the moon; Amiri Baraka a poet icon and revolutionary political activist and author of more than 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history and criticism; and Maureen McCormick, best-known as Marcia Brady on the “Brady Bunch.” The mid-Atlantic’s premier celebration of the literary arts takes place in historic Mount Vernon Place centered on the 600 block of North Charles Street. The festival is free and open to the public. “No matter who you are, or where you are from, a good book can open the world to you in fascinating ways,” said Mayor Dixon. “The words on a page – whether it is the solving of a mystery, the details of a memoir, the tale of a child’s journey, or the recounting of history – can have a major impact on one’s life. I urge everyone to come to the Book Festival this weekend to start a journey of your own.”

The Literary Salon, presented by Bank of America features nationally-renowned authors and panel discussions. The festival opens with Tory Johnson at noon on Friday, followed by Bounce Back from the Recession: Taking Control of Your Finances and Your Life panel with Monique Tilford, Your Money or Your Life; Dr. Robert Wicks, Bounce: Living the Resilient Life and Jacquette M. Timmons, Financial Intimacy: How to Create a Healthy Relationship with Your Money and Your Mate; and a later appearance by author, television and radio personality Farai Chideya, Kiss the Sky. On Saturday and Sunday the festival has award-winning authors Amiri Baraka, Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music; Ralph Nader, Only The Super-rich Can Save Us!; James McBride, Song Yet Sung a 2009 One Maryland One Book presented by the Maryland Humanities Council; R. Dwayne Betts, A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison; Jeff Johnson, Everything I’m Not Made Me Everything I Am and many more. Additionally, panel discussions include Fabulous Females of Fiction with New York Times bestselling authors Mary Monroe, God Ain’t Blind; Margot Berwin, Hothouse Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire; Lyah Beth LeFlore, Wildflowers and Donna Andrews, Swan for the Money; and Our Daughters, Our Sons, Ourselves: Stories from Parents, presented by CityLit Project with David Miller, Raising Him Alone; Pamela Thomas, Fatherless Daughters: Turning the Pain of Loss into the Power of Forgiveness and Jane Satterfield, Daughters of Empire: A Memoir Year in Britain and Beyond. The Food for Thought Stage has distinguished chefs and cookbook authors including Dale DeGroff, The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks; Lourdes Castro, Simply Mexican; Rose Levy Beranbaum, Rose’s Heavenly Cakes; Adam Reid, Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes; Ingrid Hoffmann, Simply Delicioso: A Collection of Everyday Recipes with a Latin Twist; Charles Mattocks, Eat Cheap But Eat Well: The Poor Chef Cookbook; Keith Snow, The Harvest Eating Cookbook and more. Festival-goers can also see cooking demonstrations and sample food by top cooks. The Children’s Bookstore Stage, presented by Verizon, offers visitors a weekend filled with some of the nation’s best children and young adult’s writers and illustrators. On Friday, it is young adult night at the festival. David Levithan, author of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, moderates the Coming of Age: Love, Rage and Anxiety in the YA Novel with Edward Bloor, Tangerine; Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty; Sharon M. Draper, Copper Sun and Garret Freymann-Weyr, After the Moment. Some of Saturday and Sunday authors include Mordicai Gerstein, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers; James Warhola, Uncle Andy’s Cats; Lois Lowry, Crow Call; Liz Kessler, The Tail of Emily Windsnap and Jessica Care Moore, God is Not an American. On Saturday, September 26 at 12pm, children can join costumed characters Corduroy Bear, George & Martha, Madeline, Lyle Lyle Crocodile and Franklin for The Storybook Parade. Children can meet and greet their favorite characters and parade around the festival. There will be live music by Mambo Combo, light refreshments, balloons and other great surprises! Youngsters should gather in the park by 11:45am. Special thanks to the Institute of Notre Dame.

The CityLit Stage, presented by the CityLit Project and Urbanite, features local and regional authors, engaging panel discussions, and insider tips for writers and publishers. On Friday, join CityLit Project’s Gregg Wilhelm and other industry professionals for Friday Feedback, in which up-and-coming writers receive advice on their work. CityLit Literary Happy Hour with Clipper City Brewing starts at 5pm. Festival-goers can network with those in the literary arts community. The weekend continues with What You’re Writing!, hosted by Marianne Amoss, managing editor at the Urbanite. Participants can start an essay that could find its way onto the pages of Urbanite magazine. Additionally, Getting It Written, Getting It Published: The Facts About Fiction brings writers Philipp Meyer, American Rust; James Magruder, Sugarless and Geoff Becker, Black Elvis, together for an panel on fictional writing. The Radical Bookfair Pavilion, sponsored by Red Emma’s Bookstore returns for a second year with authors Robert King, From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King; Bill Ayers, Race Course: Against White Supremacy; Peter Kuper, Diario de Mexico: A Sketchbook Journal of Two Years in Oaxaca and Jon Jeter, Flat Broke in the Free Market: How Globalization Fleeced Working People. Exhibitors AK Press, Baltimore Indypendent Reader/ IWW, Red Emma’s, Wooden Shoe Books and more will have books available for sale. The pavilion showcases well-known radical, independent, and DIY writers and publishers. The Creative Café offers short story and poetry readings, writing workshops, poetry slams and panel discussions. Weekend activities include Poet on Guitar with Sticky Mulligan mixing poetry, dance, banjo playing and singing; the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) Poetry Reading by Robert Schreur, David Salner, Rebekah Remington, Marnie Kathleen Colton, Salimah Joylynne Perkins, Judith McCombs, Michael Fallon and Ned Balbo; and Split This Rock, returning for a second year with readings and open mic. Visitors can enjoy live entertainment on the Book Festival Music Stage. Bands include Higher Hands, funk fusion; The Players, ska; Archie’s Barbershop Jambassadors, blues; David Andrew Smith, pop; Three The Hardway, roots reggae and Old Man Brown, southern rock. Food and beverages are also available throughout the festival.

The Baltimore Book Festival is presented by Mayor Sheila Dixon and produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts. Additional support is provided by Verizon, Bank of America, Corrigan Sports Enterprises/The Under Armour Baltimore Marathon, Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore Ravens, Visit Baltimore, Land O’ Lakes, Amtrak, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, New York Times, Renewal by Andersen, Movable Mixtures, The Capital Grille and C-SPAN. Media and in-kind support by Fox 45/The CW Baltimore, The Afro-American Newspapers, Agora, Baltimore Gay Life, Baltimore Blues Society, The Baltimore Times, The Baltimore Sun Media Group, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Book Divas, City Paper, Donna’s Restaurants, Inc., Engineers Club, Feast at 4 East, Hampden Moving & Storage, Institute
of Notre Dame, Maryland Family Magazine, Maryland Life Magazine, Peabody Court Hotel, Richard Polan Associates, Inc., Single Parent 101 Magazine, Tots2Tweens, Urbanite, WEAA 88.9 FM, WLIF 101.9 Lite FM, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and WYPR Radio. Grantors include The Abell Foundation, Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences, Caplan Family Foundation and Maryland State Arts Council. Program partners are Baltimore Reads, Baltimore Theatre Alliance, Barnes & Nobel, The Children’s Bookstore, The CityLit Project, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Maryland Humanities Council, Maryland Public Television, Maryland State Poetry & Literary Society, Obie Joe Media, and Red Emma’s Bookstore and Coffeehouse.
For more information on the Baltimore Book Festival, call 1-877-BALTIMORE or visit www.baltimorebookfestival.com. # # #